Pressure drop control | Crust formation

Preventing crust formation

Crust formation at the top of a catalyst bed can occur when a reactor – especially one used to process feedstocks containing olefins and oxygenates (coker products, fluid catalytic cracking (FCC) products and renewable feeds) – has been packed with catalyst having too high activity. When a crust does form, it can lead to excessive pressure drop, flow maldistribution, and difficulties during catalyst unloading.

Topsoe’s catalyst grading solutions prevent crust formation by gradually increasing the catalytic activity from low in the inert topping to higher, the further down the bed you go. The result is longer cycles, optimized reactor performance, and more profitable operation.

Highlights

Leaflet

Protect against pressure drop buildup

Minimize pressure drop buildup, extend catalyst life, and improve plant efficiency with the TK-20 catalyst.

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White paper

Scale Cather technology

Discover how our High-Efficiency Liquid Phase Scale Catcher prevents pressure drop build-up, extends catalyst life, and boosts refinery profitability.

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TK-10 catalyst

Top layer catalyst for high void fraction TK-10 is an inert hold-down catalyst applicable as topping layer in catalytic reactors instead of spherical material.

TK-15 catalyst

Catalyst for high gas rates TK-15 is a shape-optimized inert providing high void fraction. TK-15 is used for topping off catalytic reactors instead of spherical material.

TK-30 catalyst

TK-30 is a high purity alumina catalyst shaped as rings or extrudates. As a separate layer, it functions as void grading material in catalytic reactors, but it can also be used as diluent for ...

TK-3000 PhosTrap™ catalyst

A game changer for refineries and biorefineries dealing with phosphorous contamination.

TK-447 SiliconTrap™ catalyst

Silicon pick-up and desulfurization of coker naphtha Replacing TK-437, the new generation TK-447 ...

TK-709 catalyst

Low-activity catalyst with metal storage capacity TK-709 is a high-surface area, low-activity catalyst with high hydrodemetallization (HDM) activity and metal storage capacity.

TK-711 catalyst

TK-711 is a catalyst with high hydrodemetallization (HDM) activity, metal storage capacity and moderate hydrodesulfurization (HDS) activity.

TK-831 catalyst

A high HDM activity catalyst with moderate HDS and HDN activity.

TK-26 TopTrap™ catalyst

A particulate trap TK-26 TopTrap™ is an inert macro-porous material designed to pick up iron scale and other contaminants.

TK-18 TopTrap™ catalyst

A particulate trap TK-18 TopTrap™ is an inert, reticulated, macro-porous material designed to pick up particulates, scales, and other contaminants.

TK-22 TopTrap™ catalyst

A particulate trap with pore size of 30 PPI TK-22 TopTrap™ is an inert, reticulated, macro-porous material designed to pick up particulates, scales, and other contaminants.

TK-24 TopTrap™ catalyst

A particulate trap with pore size of 50 PPI TK-24 TopTrap™ is an inert, reticulated, macro-porous material designed to pick up particulates, scales, and other contaminants.

Scale catcher

A common problem in hydroprocessing reactors, is pressure drop build-up caused by various particles plugging the catalyst bed.

Distributor tray

Our Vapor Lift Distributor Tray (VLT) ensures uniform distribution of liquid and gas over the entire cross section area of the catalyst bed.

Applications within this area

Avoiding fouling problems

From our proven grading strategies to our shape-optimized toppings, particulate traps and high void fraction ring-shaped catalysts, Topsoe offers a wide range of solutions for combating reactor...

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