This document contains information which is the proprietary property of Kayser Technology, Inc. of Houston, Texas, U.S.A. (U.S. Patent No. 6,069,012.) ACE TECHNOLOGY: VARIABLE CONTACT TIME MEASUREMENTS SUMMARY ACE Technology® can measure the effects of varying hydrocarbon contact time by adjusting the axial position of the feed injector - a proprie- tary feature of ACE reactor design. Raising the injector to decrease contact time causes yield performance to shift in a manner consistent with commercial experience. This capability is impor- tant for catalyst selection and development, feedstock qualification, commercial FCC design, and kinetic modeling. VARIABLE CONTACT TIME The time that hydrocarbons are in contact with catalyst is a dominant factor affecting FCC per- formance. Reducing the contact time in a com- mercial operation (with everything else remain- ing the same) typically results in (1) increases in catalyst-to-oil and olefinicities (C2 through C4), (2) decreases in delta coke, conversion, dry gas, LPG, and distillate-to-bottoms, and (3) either an increase or decrease in gasoline. Many FCC units have recently been improved by revamping the operations to shorter hydrocarbon contact times. It is important for lab-scale FCC tests to provide relevant data with respect to contact time. In addition to the directional trends noted above, the magnitude of the yield shifts should also agree with commercial results. There are sev- eral ways to vary contact time in lab-scale reac- tors. The widely known techniques (altering ei- ther catalyst charge, feed rate, and/or diluent rates) provide results, however, which are not entirely consistent with commercial experience. THE ACE TECHNOLOGY METHOD ACE Technology is designed so hydrocarbon contact time may be varied easily, reproducibly, and with results which relate well to commercial experience. The proprietary technique, exclusive to the ACE reactor design, is to alter the axial position of the feed injector. Both the ACE- Model R and Model P units have this capability. TYPICAL DATA Tables 1 and 2 and Figures 1 through 7 summa- rize cracking runs performed at different contact times in an ACE-Model R unit at a cracking tem- perature of 990°F (532°C). The contact time is varied by moving the feed injector axially. TABLE 1 CATALYST PROPERTIES Catalyst ECAT Total SA, m 2 /gm 213 Zeolitic SA, m 2 /gm 142 Matrix SA, m 2 /gm 71 Z/M 2.0 RE 2 O 3 , wt% 2.4 UCS 24.34 Nickel, ppmw 1400 Vanadium, ppmw 2500 FIGURE 1 430°F+ CONVERSION -vs- CAT/OIL RATIO 55 60 65 70 75 80 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 Catalyst/Oil, wt/wt 430°F+ Conversion, wt% 1.125" INJECTOR 2.125" INJECTOR 2.625" INJECTOR The injector positions noted in the Figures are measured from the reactor bottom. The relative contact time for the positions are: 1.125” injec- tor, 1.00 relative contact time; 2.125” injector, 0.60 relative contact time; and 2.625” injector, 0.36 relative contact time. For these data sets both the catalyst charge and feed injection rate are held constant. TABLE 2 FEED PROPERTIES Feedstock Feed A API Gravity 21.2 Specific Gravity, 60/60°F 0.927 Sulfur, wt% 0.87 Conradson Carbon Residue, wt% 0.8 Distillation (D 2887) wt% °F/°C 10 659 / 348 50 833 / 445 90 983 / 528