PROCESS FOR PRODUCTION OF NEEDLE COKE AND AROMATICS

Abstract

The present disclosure provides a process for preparing a needle coke or a crystalline coke from aromatic rich hydrocarbon streams. The process includes preparing a needle coke or a crystalline coke from Pyrolytic Fuel Oil (PFO) and Clarified Oil (CLO) stream along with Purified fraction of CLO after solvent separation of refractory asphaltene compounds while the low boiling fractions separated from PFO and light gasoil (LGO) from the thermal cracking section are selectively hydro cracked to produce high value aromatic chemicals.

Claims

1. A process for production of Needle coke and C7-C9 aromatic hydrocarbons from Pyrolytic Fuel Oil (PFO) and Clarified Light Oil (CLO) feedstock, wherein the process comprises steps of: routing a Clarified Light Oil (CLO) stream (1) through a CLO Separator Column (2) to obtain a first stream (3) having boiling range below 350? C., a second stream (4) having boiling range between 350-500? C. and a third stream (5) having boiling range above 500? C., wherein, the third stream (5) is mixed with a fresh solvent stream (6) and a recycled solvent stream (13) and routed to a mixer (7) to obtain a mixed stream (8); routing the mixed stream (8) through a CLO Purification Section comprising of an Asphaltene separator unit (9) from which a solvent rich stream (10) and a Heavy Residue stream (14) are obtained, wherein the solvent rich stream (10) is routed to a Recovery Column (11) to obtain the recycle solvent stream (13) and a Purified CLO fraction stream (12); routing a Pyrolytic Fuel Oil (PFO) stream (29) through a PFO Separator Column (30) to obtain a fourth stream (31) having boiling range below 350? C. and a fifth stream (32) having boiling range above 350? C., wherein the fifth stream (32) is mixed with the second stream (4) and the Purified CLO fraction stream (12) to produce a first mixed stream; routing the first mixed stream through a main fractionator (15) to produce a Secondary feed stream (19) containing recycle, the Secondary feed stream (19) is heated to thermal cracking temperature inside a first furnace (20) to produce a heated stream (21); routing the heated stream (21) to a first reactor (24), or a second reactor (25) to produce a green coke and a cracked effluent vapor stream (28) by thermal cracking and routing stream (28) to the main fractionator (15) for separation into gases and naphtha (16), Light Gasoil (17) and Heavy Gasoil (18), Green Coke is calcined to produce calcined coke; mixing the Light Gasoil (17) with the fourth stream (31) along with a make-up hydrogen (39) and a recycle hydrogen (38) to produce a second mixed stream, routing the second mixed stream through a second furnace (33) for heating and to produce an effluent stream (34); and selective hydrocracking of the effluent stream (34) in a fixed bed reactor (35) to produce a reactor effluent stream (36), wherein the reactor effluent stream (36) is sent to a separator (37) to separate Hydrogen from separator effluent (40), the Hydrogen is used as the recycle hydrogen (38) and the separator effluent (40) is routed to a fractionator (41) for separation into gases (42), Light Naphtha (43), Heavy Naphtha (44) enriched in C7-C9 aromatics and Diesel oil (45).

2. The process as claimed in claim 1, wherein the CLO stream (1) is routed to the CLO Separator Column (2), wherein the CLO Separator Column (2) is operated at a temperature range of 150-395? C. and an operating Pressure in the range of 0.0001-3 Kg/cm.sup.2.

3. The process as claimed in claim 1, wherein the PFO stream (29) is routed to the PFO Separator Column (30), wherein the PFO Separator Column (30) is operated at a temperature range of 150-395? C. and an operating Pressure in the range of 0.0001-3 Kg/cm.sup.2.

4. The process as claimed in claim 1, wherein the third stream (5) is enriched in asphaltenes and ash, wherein the third stream (5) is routed to the Asphaltene separator unit (9), wherein the Asphaltene separator unit (9) is operated at a temperature range of 25-175? C.

5. The process as claimed in claim 1, wherein the fresh solvent stream (6) comprises of paraffinic solvents with carbon number ranging from 3 to 7.

6. The process as claimed in claim 1, wherein the reactors (24, 25) are operated at a temperature range of 470-520? C., Pressure 2-10 Kg/cm.sup.2, and 12-48 hours of residence time.

7. The process as claimed in claim 1, wherein the green coke is calcined at temperature in the range of 1300? C.-1500? C. to produce crystalline coke.

8. The process as claimed in claim 1, wherein the first reactor (24), or the second reactor (25) is used in a cycle one after the other, wherein, the heavy hydrocarbon molecules crack into lighter hydrocarbons while poly-condensation reactions occur resulting into coke formation.

9. The process as claimed in claim 1, wherein the selective hydrocracking of the effluent stream (34) is carried out in the fixed bed reactor (35) operated at the temperature range of 350-450? C. and a pressure of 50-150 bar (g).

10. The process as claimed in claim 1, wherein the fixed bed reactor is configured in a one single unit, or in a series of units, wherein, the fixed bed reactor selectively hydrocracks two and three ring aromatics into single ring aromatics from fourth stream (31) derived from PFO stream (29) and Light Gasoil stream (17) obtained from thermal cracking of admixture of stream (32), stream (4) and Purified CLO fraction stream (12).

11. The process as claimed in claim 1, wherein the fixed bed reactor comprises a Mild Hydrocracking catalyst having a Silica-alumina or Zeolite support impregnated with active metals selected from Nickel, Cobalt, Molybdenum or a combination thereof.

12. The process as claimed in claim 1, wherein the coke produced is a Needle coke having low ash content in the range of 0.01 to 0.3 wt. % and the Heavy Naphtha (44) produced is enrich in C7-C9 aromatics in the range of 50-60 wt. %.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING

[0036] To further clarify advantages and aspects of the disclosure, a more particular description of the present disclosed process will be rendered by reference to specific embodiments thereof, which is illustrated in the appended drawing(s) and explained hereinafter in the description section. It is appreciated that the drawing(s) as provided herein depicts only typical embodiments of the process and are therefore not to be considered limiting of its scope.

[0037] FIG. 1: illustrates a schematic flow diagram of the process as disclosed in the present disclosure.

DESCRIPTION

[0038] Needle Coke is a high value coke product obtained from Thermal cracking process such as Delayed Coking. Its quality is dependent on parameters such as ash content and high ash content, presence of refractory asphaltene compounds in feed stock etc. deteriorates the quality of Needle coke making it unsuitable for producing graphite electrodes. This ash content is primarily owed to the carried over inorganic impurity content of feed stocks such as catalyst fines which concentrate in coke product. Also, there is an increasing requirement of production of aromatic chemicals from petroleum refineries. Current invention describes an integrated process through which high value Needle coke and Aromatics can be produced simultaneously by utilizing residual feed stock such as CLO and PFO.

[0039] According to the main embodiment, the present disclosure provides a process for production of improved quality Needle coke or crystalline coke as well as value added chemicals from hydrocarbon feedstock.

[0040] Specifically, the present disclosure provides a process for production of crystalline coke and C7-C9 aromatic hydrocarbons from Pyrolytic Fuel Oil (PFO) and Clarified Light Oil (CLO) feedstocks, wherein the process includes following steps.

[0041] Routing a Clarified Light Oil (CLO) stream (1) through a CLO Separator Column (2) to obtain a first stream (3) having boiling range below 350? C., a second stream (4) having boiling range between 350-500? C. and a third stream (5) having boiling range above 500? C., wherein, the CLO Separator Column (2) is operated at a temperature range of 150-395? C. and Pressure in the range of 0.0001-3 Kg/cm.sup.2 wherein, the first stream (3) is free from asphaltenes and ash content, the second stream (4) is free from asphaltenes, and the third stream (5) is enriched in asphaltenes and ash content.

[0042] Thereafter, the third CLO derived stream (5) is mixed with a fresh solvent stream (6) and a recycled solvent stream (13) and routed to a mixer (7) to obtain a mixed stream (8). Wherein, the fresh solvent stream (6) comprises of paraffinic solvents with carbon number ranging from 3 to 7.

[0043] Thereafter, routing the mixed stream (8) through an Asphaltene separator (9) from which a solvent rich stream (10) and a Heavy Residue stream (14) are obtained. Wherein, the Asphaltene separator (9) having temperature in the range of 25-175? C. Thereafter, the solvent rich stream (10) is routed to a Recovery column (11) to obtain the recycle solvent stream (13) and Purified CLO fraction stream (12). Wherein, the Recovery column (11) having temperature in the range of 20-120? C. and Pressure in the range of 1-100 Kg/cm.sup.2.

[0044] Simultaneously routing a Pyrolytic Fuel Oil (PFO) stream (29) through a PFO Separator Column (30) to obtain a fourth stream (31) having boiling range below 350? C. and a fifth stream (32) having boiling range above 350? C. Wherein, the PFO Separator Column (30) is operated at a temperature range of 150-395? C. and Pressure in the range of 0.0001-3 Kg/cm.sup.2. Thereafter, the fifth stream (32) is mixed with the second stream (4) and the Purified CLO fraction stream (12) to produce a first mixed stream.

[0045] Routing the mixed stream through a main fractionator (15) to obtain a Secondary feed stream (19) containing internal recycle. The Secondary feed stream (19) is heated to thermal cracking temperature inside a first furnace (20) to produce a heated stream (21). Wherein, the first furnace has a coil outlet temperature in the range of 470-520? C.

[0046] Thereafter, routing the heated stream (21) to a first reactor (24), or a second reactor (25) wherein it is provided sufficient residence time to produce green coke and a cracked effluent vapor stream (28) and the green coke is removed from the reactor and calcined to produce the crystalline coke. The cracked effluent vapor stream (28) is routed back to the main fractionator (15) to be separated into gases and naphtha (16), Light Gasoil (17) and heavy gas oil (18).

[0047] Further, the overhead temperature of the first reactor (24) or the second reactor (25) is maintained in the range of 430-460? C., the operating pressure is maintained in the range of 2-10 Kg/cm.sup.2, and the hydrocarbon residence time is in the range of 12 to 48 hrs. Wherein, the first reactor (24), or the second reactor (25) are used in a cycle one after the other, wherein, heavy hydrocarbon molecules crack into lighter hydrocarbons while poly-condensation reactions occur resulting into coke formation.

[0048] Thereafter, mixing the Light Gasoil (17) with the fourth stream (31) along with make-up hydrogen (39) and recycle hydrogen (38) to produce a second mixed stream, routing the second mixed stream through a second furnace (33) for heating at a temperature in the range of 350-450? C. and to produce an effluent stream (34). Subjecting the effluent stream (34) to selective hydrocracking in a fixed bed reactor (35) to produce a reactor effluent stream (36), wherein the reactor effluent stream (36) is sent to a separator (37) to separate Hydrogen from separator effluent (40), the Hydrogen is used as the recycle hydrogen (38) and the separator effluent (40) is routed to a fractionator (41) for separation into gases (42), Light Naphtha (43), Heavy Naphtha (44) enriched in C7-C9 aromatics and Diesel oil (45).

[0049] Further, the selective hydrocracking is carried out in the fixed bed reactor operated at the temperature range of 350-450? C. and pressure of 50-150 bar (g).

[0050] Further, the fixed bed reactor is configured in a one single unit, or in a series of units, wherein, the fixed bed reactor selectively hydrocracks two and three ring aromatics into single ring aromatics.

[0051] Further, the fixed bed reactor comprises a Mild Hydrocracking catalyst having a Silica-alumina or Zeolite support impregnated with active metals selected from Nickel, Cobalt, Molybdenum or a combination thereof.

[0052] Further, the coke produced from coke drums are subjected to high temperature calcination at temperature in the range of 1300-1500? C.

[0053] Feedstock: The liquid hydrocarbon feed stock which can be used in the process as disclosed herein are selected from different aromatic tars, ethylene tar, Clarified Oils, or Pyrolytic Fuel oil etc.

[0054] Solvent: Further, paraffinic solvents can be selected with carbon number ranging from 3 to 7 which are employed for the CLO Purification section.

Process conditions

Thermal Cracker Unit

[0055] In the first furnace, the furnace coil outlet temperature to be maintained is in the range of 470-520? C. Coking reactor overhead temperature may be maintained around 430-460? C. Operating pressure may be maintained in the range of 2-10 Kg/cm.sup.2 (g). Hydrocarbon residence time in the reactors is kept in the range of 12 to 48 hrs.

Selective Hydrocracking Unit

[0056] Hydrocracking occurs in a reactor or series of reactors operated at the temperature range of 350-450? C. and pressure of 50-150 bar (g).

CLO Purification Section

[0057] The CLO Purification Section is operated with paraffinic solvents having Carbon number ranging from C3 to C7 to separate the asphaltene enriched Heavy Residue fraction from the CLO fraction having boiling range above 500? C. This unit is operated at a temperature range of 25-175? C. with a Solvent to Oil ratio ranging from 1:1 to 4:1 (wt/wt). The Purification section separates the ash rich asphaltene fraction as Heavy Residue which deteriorates the Needle coke quality.

CLO Separator and PFO Separator

[0058] CLO feedstock is routed to a CLO Separator Column which is operated at a temperature range of 150-395? C. and Pressure in the range of 0.0001-3 Kg/cm.sup.2 ensuring that the heavier molecules in CLO fraction having boiling range above 500? C. are not subjected to thermal cracking during separation and separated into fraction boiling below 350? C., fraction boiling in the range of 350? C.-500? C. and fraction boiling above 500? C. PFO feedstock is routed to a PFO Separator Column which is operated at a temperature range of 150-395? C. and Pressure in the range of 0.0001-3 Kg/cm.sup.2 ensuring that the heavier molecules in PFO feed stock are not subjected to thermal cracking during separation and separated into fraction boiling below 350? C. and a fraction boiling above 350? C.

[0059] Further, the process as disclosed herein is exemplified but not limited to the FIG. 1. In the said process, Clarified Light Oil stream (1) is routed to a CLO Separator Column (2) to obtain fraction boiling below 350? C. (3), fraction in the boiling range 350-500? C. (4) and fraction boiling above 500? C. (5) streams. Stream having boiling range above 500? C. (5) is thereafter mixed with fresh solvent stream (6) and recycled solvent stream (13) and routed to a mixer (7). Stream from mixer which is herein referred as mixed stream (8) is thereafter routed to an Asphaltene separator (9) of CLO Purification Unit from which solvent rich stream (10) and Heavy Residue stream (14) are obtained.

[0060] Solvent rich stream (10) is routed to a Recovery column (11). In the Recovery column (11), solvent stream (13) is separated from the Purified CLO fraction stream (12) and recycled back to inlet of the mixer (7). Simultaneously, Pyrolytic Fuel oil stream (29) is sent to a PFO Separator Column (30) where it is separated into fraction boiling below 350? C. (31) and fraction boiling above 350? C. (32) which mixes with 350-500? C. stream (4) and Purified CLO fraction stream (12). This mixed stream is thereafter routed to the Main fractionator (15). Secondary feed stream (19) containing recycle from the bottom section of Main fractionator (15) is heated to thermal cracking temperature inside the furnace (20). Heated stream (21) from furnace outlet is routed to either of the reactors (24) or (25) through (22) or (23) depending on whichever is under filling cycle. Inside the reactors, heavy hydrocarbon molecules crack into lighter hydrocarbons while poly-condensation reactions occur resulting into coke formation. Cracked effluent vapor stream (28) is thereafter routed to the Main fractionator (15) for separation into gases and naphtha (16), Light gas oil (17) and heavy gas oil (18). Green Coke formed inside the reactors is removed and calcined to produce Crystalline Coke. Light Gasoil stream (17) from Main fractionator (15) is mixed with the fraction of PFO boiling below 350? C. (31) along with make-up hydrogen (39) and recycle hydrogen (38) and routed to a furnace (33) for heating.

[0061] Thereafter the furnace effluent stream (34) is subjected to selective hydrocracking in a fixed bed reactor (35). Inside the reactor, two and three ring aromatics are selectively hydrocracked into single ring aromatics. Reactor effluent stream (36) rich in C7-C9 aromatics and H2 is sent to a separator (37) in which Hydrogen is separated to generate recycle hydrogen stream (38) and separator effluent (40) is routed to a fractionator (41) for separation into gases (42), Light Naphtha (43), Heavy Naphtha (44) enriched in C7-C9 aromatics and Diesel oil (45).

[0062] The examples as provided herein below provides various advantages and disclose the present process in detail.

[0063] Example 1: CLO stream having ash content of 0.3 wt % was fractionated into 3 different boiling range fractions as provided in Table-1. It can be observed from Table-2, that ash rich asphaltene fraction is concentrated in Cut no.3 while Cut no.2 has lower ash content than full range CLO due to concentration of the same in 500? C.+ boiling range fraction. Thereafter, cut no. 3 was subjected to thermal cracking in a laboratory scale thermal cracker unit as per conditions provided in Table-3 to obtain Green Needle Coke (GNC A). Subsequently, GNC A was subjected to calcination to generate Calcined Needle Coke (CNC A). Property of CNC A is provided in Table-4. It can be observed that CNC A has a lower crystallinity and very high ash content which is not meeting Needle coke specification. Ash content in Needle coke should be preferably less than 0.3 wt %.

TABLE-US-00001 TABLE 1 Different boiling range fractions of CLO S. No. Cut Boiling range 1. Cut no. 1 350? C.? 2. Cut no. 2 350? C.-500? C. 3. Cut no. 3 500? C.+

TABLE-US-00002 TABLE 2 Property comparison of CLO, Cuts 1, 2 and 3 CLO 350? C.? 350? C.-500? C. 500? C.+ S.N. Parameter (Whole) 24 wt. % 68 wt. % 8 wt. % 1. Density, gm/cc 1.1578 <1.0725 1.0725 >1.1639 2. Saturates, wt % 6.7 16.5 3.8 3. Aromatics + Resins, wt. % 92.2 83.5 96.2 86 4. Asphaltenes, wt % 1.1 14 5. Ash, wt % 0.25 0.07 2.5 6. Distillation, wt. % vs ? C. 5/70/90 219/422/658 264/343/357 350/440/495 499/593/656

TABLE-US-00003 TABLE 3 Operating conditions for thermal cracking experiment as described in Example 1 S. No. Parameter Value 1. Feed weight, gm 100 2. Operating temperature, ? C. 475 3. Pressure, Kg/cm.sup.2 (g) 7 4. Residence time, hrs 4

TABLE-US-00004 TABLE 4 Crystallinity and ash content of CNC A S. No. Parameter CNC A 1. Crystallinity, % 37.2 2. Crystallite size, A? 35 3. Ash, wt % 3

[0064] Example 2: In Experiment no. 2, 500? C.+ boiling range fraction (Cut no. 3) was treated with n-heptane in the ratio 1:4 (wt/wt) at a temperature of 60? C. to obtain Heavy Residue and Purified CLO fractions. Property comparison of Purified CLO fraction and Heavy Residue is provided as Table-5. It can be observed that the asphaltenes have concentrated in Heavy Residue in comparison to Purified CLO fraction. Also, ash present in 500? C.+ fraction is getting concentrated in the heavy residue fraction and a Purified CLO fraction free from ash is obtained.

TABLE-US-00005 TABLE 5 Property of Purified CLO fraction and Heavy Residue Purified CLO Heavy Residue S. No. Parameter fraction from 500? C.+ 1. Aromatics, wt % 40 2. Resins, wt % 60 36 3. Asphaltenes, wt % 64 4. Ash, wt % 17

[0065] Example 3: In Experiment no. 3, 350-500? C. fraction (Cut no.2) obtained from CLO was mixed with whole Pyrolytic fuel oil (PFO) having property provided in Table-6 and subjected to thermal cracking experiment as per operating conditions provided in Table-7 to obtain Green Needle Coke (GNC-B). Coke so obtained from thermal cracking experiment was calcined at 1300? C. to generate CNC-B. Property of CNC-B is provided in Table-8. It can be observed that crystallinity and ash content of coke obtained from processing an admixture of Cut no. 2 and PFO is better than that of coke obtained from processing of Cut no. 3 as described in Example 1. Also, Coke yield in case of processing an admixture of PFO and Cut no.2 is higher in comparison to processing 100% PFO as mentioned in Table-7 & 10. It can be observed from Table-7, 8, 10 & 11 that Needle coke with superior crystallinity and lower ash content could be produced in larger quantity by processing the admixture of PFO and Cut no.2 in comparison to that produced from thermal cracking of whole PFO.

TABLE-US-00006 TABLE 6 Property of PFO S. No. Parameter Value 1. Density, gm/cc 1.0378 2. Aromatics + Resins, wt. % 100 3. Ash, wt. % <0.1 4. Distillation, wt. % vs ? C. 5/70/90 188/327/501

TABLE-US-00007 TABLE 7 Operating conditions and Coke yield from Experiment no. 3 S. No. Parameter Value 1. Feed weight, gm 100 2. Feed composition (wt %), 20:80 PFO:Cut no. 2 3. Operating temperature, ? C. 475 4. Pressure, Kg/cm.sup.2 (g) 7 5. Residence time, hrs 4 6. Coke yield, wt % 32

TABLE-US-00008 TABLE 8 Property of CNC B S. No. Parameter Value 1. Crystallinity, % 60 2. Crystallite size, A? 39 3. Ash content, wt % 0.2

[0066] PFO feed stock was subjected to fractionation and separated into following cut points as provided in Table-9:

TABLE-US-00009 TABLE 9 Different boiling ranges of PFO S. No. Cut Boiling range 1. Cut no. 4 350? C.? 2. Cut no. 5 350? C.+

[0067] Example 4: In Experiment no. 4, whole PFO feed stock was subjected to thermal cracking in laboratory scale thermal cracker unit as per conditions indicated in Table-10. Coke generated thereof (GNC C) was subjected to calcination (CNC C) at 1300? C. and analyzed for crystallinity and ash content. Crystallinity and ash content of coke are provided in Table-11.

TABLE-US-00010 TABLE 10 Operating conditions and Coke yield from Experiment no. 4 S. No. Parameter Value 1. Feed weight, gm 100 2. Feed composition (wt %), 100 PFO 3. Operating temperature, ? C. 475 4. Pressure, Kg/cm.sup.2 (g) 7 5. Residence time, hrs 4 6. Coke yield, wt % 20

TABLE-US-00011 TABLE 11 Property of CNC C S. No. Parameter Value 1. Crystallinity, % 32.3 2. Crystallite size, A? 36 3. Ash, wt. % 0.16

[0068] Example 5: In Experiment no. 5, Cut no. 5 was mixed with Cut no. 2 as per conditions provided in Table-12. Coke generated thereof (GNC D) was subjected to calcination (CNC D) and analyzed for crystallinity and ash content which are provided in Table-13.

TABLE-US-00012 TABLE 12 Operating conditions & Coke yield from Experiment no. 5 S. No. Parameter Value 1. Feed weight, gm 100 2. Feed composition (wt. %), 30:70 Cut no. 5:Cut no. 2 3. Operating temperature, ? C. 475 4. Pressure, Kg/cm.sup.2 (g) 7 5. Residence time, hrs 4 6. Coke yield, wt. % 37

TABLE-US-00013 TABLE 13 Property of CNC D S. No. Parameter Value 1. Crystallinity, % 47 2. Ash content, wt % 0.24

[0069] Example 6: In Experiment no. 6, Cut nos. 2 and 5 were mixed with Purified CLO fraction as obtained in Example 2 as per conditions provided in Table-14. Coke generated thereof (GNC E) was subjected to calcination (CNC E) and analyzed for crystallinity and ash content which are provided in Table-15.

TABLE-US-00014 TABLE 14 Operating conditions & Coke yield from Experiment no. 6 S. No. Parameter Value 1. Feed weight, gm 100 2. Cut no. 5:Cut no. 2: 26:67:7 Purified CLO Fraction 2. Operating temperature, ? C. 475 3. Pressure, Kg/cm.sup.2 (g) 7 4. Residence time, hrs 4 5. Coke yield, wt % 35.1

TABLE-US-00015 TABLE 15 Property of CNC E S. No. Parameter Value 1. Crystallinity, % 60.4 2. Crystallite size, A? 39.5 3. Ash content, wt % 0.24

[0070] Example 7: In Experiment no. 7, Cut no. 4 was subjected to selective hydrocracking in a series of reactors R-1 and R-2 using NiMo catalyst over Zeolite support. R-1 was operated at Weighted Average Bed Temperature (WABT) of 360? C. while R-2 was operated at WABT of 375? C. Both the reactors were operated at 55 bar (g) pressure and Liquid Hourly Space Velocity (LHSV) was maintained at 1.5 hr.sup.?1 in both the reactors. Product was collected from a separator and analyzed. Product yield obtained is provided in Table-16.

TABLE-US-00016 TABLE 16 Product Yield of Hydrocracking Experiment no. 7 Yield, S. No. Component wt. % 1. Off-gas 1.49 2. LPG 4.06 3. Light Naphtha (LN) 25.93 4. Heavy Naphtha (HN) 53.85 5. Unconverted Oil/Diesel 14.67 6. C7-C9 aromatics in HN, wt. % 55 7. Total C7-C9 aromatics, wt. % 30

[0071] Example 8: In Experiment no. 8, Cut no. 2 was mixed Cut no. 5 and Purified CLO fraction and processed in a lab scale thermal cracker unit (67:26:7) at a pressure of 7 Kg/cm.sup.2 (g) and a temperature of 475? C. The product yield obtained is provided in Table-17. Thereafter, the product was subjected to batch scale distillation to generate 140-370? C. boiling range fraction which is also referred to as Light Gasoil (LGO). Thereafter, LGO and Cut no. 4 were mixed in a ratio 27:73 respectively to prepare feed for Hydrocracking experiment. This mixed feed was processed in a series of reactors R-1 followed by R-2. WABT of R-1 was maintained at 360? C. while that of R-2 was maintained at 380? C. Both the reactors were operated at a pressure of 52 bar (g) and LHSV of 2 hr.sup.?1. Product was collected from a separator and analyzed. Product yield is provided in Table-18.

TABLE-US-00017 TABLE 17 Product yield of Thermal cracking experiment as described in Example 8 S. No. Component Yield, wt % 1. Off-gas 5.7 2. LPG 2.2 3. Naphtha (C5-140) 4.5 4. LGO (140-370) 27 5. HGO (370+) 24.4 6. Coke 36.2

TABLE-US-00018 TABLE 18 Product Yield of Hydrocracking Experiment as described in Example 8 S. No. Component Yield, wt % 1. Off-gas 1.39 2. LPG 5.68 3. Light Naphtha (LN) 25.74 4. Heavy Naphtha (HN) 54.11 5. Unconverted Oil/Diesel 13.08 6. C7-C9 aromatics in HN, wt % 55 7. Total C7-C9 aromatics, wt % 30

[0072] Example 9: In Experiment no.9, CLO was subjected to fractionation into Cut nos. 1 at a flask temperature of 180? C. and Pressure of 2 mm Hg (0.003 Kg/cm.sup.2), Cut nos. 2 and 3 at a temperature of 290? C. and a Pressure of 0.5 mm Hg (0.0007 Kg/cm.sup.2) while PFO was subjected to fractionation into Cut nos. 4 and 5 at a flask temperature of 185? C. and Pressure of 1 mm Hg (0.001 Kg/cm.sup.2). Thereafter, Cut no. 3 of CLO was mixed with n-heptane in a mixer in Solvent to Feed ratio of 1:4 and subjected to Purification to obtain Heavy Residue and Purified CLO fraction which is mixed with Cut nos. 2 and 5 (Cut no.2: Cut no. 5: Purified CLO Fraction: 67:26:7 wt/wt). This mixed stream was subjected to thermal cracking at a pressure of 7 Kg/cm.sup.2 (g) and a temperature of 475? C. to obtain Coke and distillates. Cut no. 4 after mixing with LGO stream (140-370? C. boiling range) of distillates was subjected to mild hydrocracking to obtain C7-C9 aromatic containing stream. Combined Yield of the products from the process configuration is provided in Table-19.

TABLE-US-00019 TABLE 19 Combined Yield from the process as described in Example 9 Product Yield, wt % Coke 18 C7-C9 aromatics 15 Total Coke + Aromatics 33 Gases 8 Naphtha 27 Diesel 31 Heavy Residue 1 Total 100

[0073] Example 10: In Experiment no. 10, Cut no. 2 was mixed Cut no. 5 and Purified CLO fraction and processed in a lab scale thermal cracker unit (67:26:7) at a pressure of 9 Kg/cm.sup.2 (g) and a temperature of 475? C. The product yield obtained is provided in Table-20. Thereafter, the product was subjected to batch scale distillation to generate 140-370? C. boiling range fraction which is also referred to as Light Gasoil (LGO). Thereafter, LGO and Cut no. 4 were mixed in a ratio 23:77 respectively to prepare feed for Hydrocracking experiment. This mixed feed was processed in a series of reactors R-1 followed by R-2. WABT of R-1 was maintained at 380? C. while that of R-2 was maintained at 390? C. Both the reactors were operated at a pressure of 52 bar (g) and LHSV of 2 hr.sup.?1. Product was collected from a separator and analyzed. Combined yield from the process is provided in Table-20.

TABLE-US-00020 TABLE 20 Combined Yield from the process as described in Example 10 Product Yield, wt % Coke 25 C7-C9 aromatics 14 Total Coke + Aromatics 39 Gases 9 Naphtha 26 Diesel 25 Heavy Residue 1 Total 100

[0074] Example 11: In Experiment no. 11, Cut no. 2 (350-500? C.) of CLO was subjected to thermal cracking as per conditions provided in Table-21. Coke (GNC-F) from the experiment was subjected to calcination at 1300? C. to obtain CNC-F. Property of CNC-F is provided in Table-22.

TABLE-US-00021 TABLE 21 Operating conditions & Coke yield from Experiment no. 11 S. No. Parameter Value 1. Feed weight, gm 100 2. Feed composition (wt %), 100 Cut no. 2 2. Operating temperature, ? C. 475 3. Pressure, Kg/cm.sup.2 (g) 7 4. Residence time, hrs 4 5. Coke yield, wt % 35

TABLE-US-00022 TABLE 22 Property of CNC E S. No. Parameter Value 1. Crystallinity, % 54 2. Crystallite size, A? 37.9 3. Ash content, wt % 0.23

[0075] Example 12: In Experiment no. 12, whole CLO was subjected to thermal cracking as per conditions provided in Table-23. Coke (GNC-G) from the experiment was subjected to calcination at 1300? C. to obtain CNC-G. Property of CNC-G is provided in Table-24.

TABLE-US-00023 TABLE 23 Operating conditions & Coke yield from Experiment no. 12 S. No. Parameter Value 1. Feed weight, gm 100 2. Feed composition (wt. %), Whole CLO 100 2. Operating temperature, ? C. 475 3. Pressure, Kg/cm.sup.2 (g) 7 4. Residence time, hrs 4 5. Coke yield, wt % 30

TABLE-US-00024 TABLE 24 Property of CNC G S. No. Parameter Value 1. Crystallinity, % 38.2 2. Crystallite size, A? 38.4 3. Ash content, wt % 0.8