Grant: Alliance Grants

The Fluid Coking process is used worldwide to upgrade heavy oils from various sources. For example, our industrial partner Syncrude 's fluid cokers in Northern Alberta produce over 300 000 barrels of synthetic crude oil per day. In fluid cokers, heated coke particles provide the energy required for heavy oil thermal cracking, producing synthetic crude oil. Coke particles are heated in a separate vessel and then flow to the fluid coker, where they come into contact with injected heavy oil before flowing back to the heater. The coke particles are heated by combustion with air at elevated temperatures, producing carbon dioxide, contributing to the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions associated with synthetic crude oil production. This research partnership aims to establish and experimentally demonstrate fluid coker heater modifications to reduce the GHG emissions associated with the thermal cracking heating requirements. This project will enable Syncrude to use fuel alternatives with reduced GHG emissions. For example, combusting methane rather than coke could reduce GHG emissions by 55-68% with equivalent heating. Furthermore, combusting hydrogen from renewable energy and water electrolysis (i.e., green hydrogen) could eliminate GHG emissions associated with the thermal cracking heat requirements. Using these alternative fuels requires system modifications to preferentially combust methane or hydrogen, rather than the coke, while still heating the particles. We will start by investigating coke combustion kinetics and the impacts of system modifications on the contact between coke particles and air injected at high velocities. Coke and alternative fuel co-firing will then be experimentally studied to drive combustion selectivity toward reduced GHG emissions.This research partnership could eliminate up to 2.0 million tonnes of annual GHG emissions from Syncrude's operations. Such large-scale industrial changes must be commercialized to meet Canada's GHG emission reduction goals, as outlined in the Paris agreement.