Comparison of an in situ and an incorporated FCC catalyst under iron contamination

Operating fluid catalytic cracking (FCC) units with feedstocks high in iron was reported to cause degradation in performance. However, nearly all prior work examining this phenomenon used incorporated FCC catalysts. An alternative production method involves synthesizing the catalyst in situ, which may circumvent the performance degradation observed previously. An opportunity to assess this question was provided by a refinery that simultaneously operated an in situ and an incorporated FCC catalyst. Under severe iron contamination, the incorporated catalyst showed lower bottoms upgrading and higher dry gas, both hallmarks of iron poisoning; whereas the in situ catalyst appears relatively unaffected.