This invention provides a fluidized catalytic cracking apparatus and process for converting a hydrocarbon feedstock containing higher concentrations of Conradson Carbon Residue (CCR), metal impurities, etc into lighter products by employing two riser reactors in which the feed impurities are removed using an adsorbent in a first riser reactor and cracking a portion of first riser reactor liquid product in a second riser reactor to lighter products using the active catalyst thus eliminating the catalyst deactivation due to metal, impurities and FCC catalyst activity dilution effect to achieve a better conversion and higher catalyst longevity.

A method is provided for increasing production of middle distillate hydrocarbons from conversion of a heavy hydrocarbon feed in a fluid catalytic cracking system having a primary riser and a secondary riser, wherein the method comprises providing regenerated catalyst to the primary riser and operating the primary riser under severe conditions and providing spent catalyst to the secondary riser and operating the secondary riser under moderate conditions.

Processes and systems are disclosed for improving the yield from reforming processes. Aromatic complex bottoms, or a heavy fraction thereof, are subjected to catalytic conversion to produce additional gasoline and higher-quality aromatic compounds.

Apparatus and processes herein provide for converting hydrocarbon feeds to light olefins and other hydrocarbons. The processes and apparatus include, in some embodiments, feeding a hydrocarbon, a first catalyst and a second catalyst to a reactor, wherein the first catalyst has a smaller average particle size and is less dense than the second catalyst. A first portion of the second catalyst may be recovered as a bottoms product from the reactor, and a cracked hydrocarbon effluent, a second portion of the second catalyst, and the first catalyst may be recovered as an overhead product from the reactor. The second portion of the second catalyst may be separated from the overhead product, providing a first stream comprising the first catalyst and the hydrocarbon effluent and a second stream comprising the separated second catalyst, allowing return of the separated second catalyst in the second stream to the reactor.

Processes for producing olefins include introducing a hydrocarbon feed to a high-severity fluidized catalytic cracking system, contacting the hydrocarbon feed with a cracking catalyst under high-severity conditions in the high-severity fluidized catalytic cracking system to produce a cracking reaction effluent comprising butene, and passing at least a portion of the cracking reaction effluent, which includes at least butene, to a metathesis system. The processes further include contacting the portion of the cracking reaction effluent with a metathesis catalyst in the metathesis system, which causes at least a portion of the butene in the cracking C4 effluent to undergo a metathesis reaction to produce a metathesis reaction effluent comprising at least one of ethylene, propene, or both. The processes may further include separating a metathesis C5+ effluent from the metathesis reaction effluent and passing the metathesis C5+ effluent back to the high-severity fluidized catalytic cracking unit.

According to one more embodiments, petrochemical products may be produced from a hydrocarbon material by a process that may comprise separating the hydrocarbon material into at least a lesser boiling point fraction, a medium boiling point fraction, and a greater boiling point fraction. The process may further comprise cracking at least a portion of the lesser boiling point fraction and the medium boiling point fraction in a second reactor unit in the presence of a second catalyst at a reaction temperature of from 500° C. to 700° C. to produce a second cracking reaction product, wherein the lesser boiling point fraction enters the second reactor unit upstream of wherein the medium boiling point fraction enters the second reactor.

The invention is directed to a process to prepare propylene from a mixture of hydrocarbons having an olefin content of between 5 and 50 wt. % and boiling for more than 90 vol. % between 35 and 280° C. or from a hydrocarbon feed comprising paraffins, naphthenics, aromatics and optionally up to 10 wt. % of olefins, by first contacting the feed with a low acidic density cracking catalyst in a fixed bed reactor, separating propylene and subsequently contacting the residue with a high acidic density cracking catalyst in a fixed bed reactor at a more elevated temperature, separating propylene and recycling the residue to first and second cracking reactors. Aromatics may be added to first and second cracking step to improve cycle length.

A method for processing a hydrocarbon feed to produce olefins may comprise introducing the hydrocarbon feed to a first fluid catalytic cracking system, which may cause at least a portion of the hydrocarbon feed to undergo catalytic cracking and produce a spent first cracking catalyst and a first cracked effluent comprising one or more olefins. The method may further comprise passing the first cracked effluent to a separation system downstream of the first fluid catalytic cracking system, which may separate the first cracked effluent to produce at least a naphtha effluent comprising one or more olefins. Additionally, the method may comprise passing the naphtha effluent to a second fluid catalytic cracking system downstream of the separation system, which may cause at least a portion of the naphtha effluent to undergo catalytic cracking and produce a spent cracking catalyst mixture and a second cracked effluent comprising one or more olefins.

Apparatus and processes herein provide for converting hydrocarbon feeds to light olefins and other hydrocarbons. The processes and apparatus include, in some embodiments, feeding a hydrocarbon, a first catalyst and a second catalyst to a reactor, wherein the first catalyst has a smaller average particle size and is less dense than the second catalyst. A first portion of the second catalyst may be recovered as a bottoms product from the reactor, and a cracked hydrocarbon effluent, a second portion of the second catalyst, and the first catalyst may be recovered as an overhead product from the reactor. The second portion of the second catalyst may be separated from the overhead product, providing a first stream comprising the first catalyst and the hydrocarbon effluent and a second stream comprising the separated second catalyst, allowing return of the separated second catalyst in the second stream to the reactor.

Processes for producing olefins include integration of steam cracking with a dual catalyst metathesis process. The processes include steam cracking a hydrocarbon feed to form a cracking reaction effluent containing butenes, separating the cracking reaction effluent to produce a cracking C4 effluent including normal butenes, isobutene, and 1,3-butadiene, subjecting the cracking C4 effluent to selective hydrogenation to convert 1,3-butadiene in the cracking C4 effluent to normal butenes, removing isobutene from a hydrogenation effluent to produce a metathesis feed containing normal butenes, and contacting the metathesis feed with a metathesis catalyst and a cracking catalyst directly downstream of the metathesis catalyst to produce a metathesis reaction effluent. Contacting with the metathesis catalyst causes metathesis of normal butenes to produce ethylene, propene, and C5+ olefins, and contacting with the cracking catalyst causes C5+ olefins produced through metathesis to undergo cracking reactions to produce additional propene, ethylene, or both.