Optimizing the vacuum gas oil hydrocracking process temperature in the presence of Ni-Mo/γ-Al2O3-SiO2 catalyst

A suitable model for predicting the product quality of vacuum gas oil (VGO) catalytic hydrocracking is developed. Data were obtained using an experimental catalytic hydrocracking reactor loaded with the Ni-Mo/Al2O3-SiO2 catalyst. A set of experimental runs was conducted under various operating temperatures from 380 to 450 ℃. Three distribution models were used to develop the predictive model. By the discrete lumping model, distillation curves of the cracked products (naphtha, kerosene, diesel, and gas) were obtained using the simulated distillation test. Model validation results showed that the proposed models are capable of predicting the distillation curves of the hydrocracked products accurately. Accuracy and simplicity of the developed model make it suitable to estimate the conversion and also the product distribution of hydrocracking units in refineries.