Demetallization of heavy oil through pyrolysis: A reaction kinetics analysis

By tracking the transfer of vanadium and nickel in pyrolysis products, a seven-lump reaction kinetic model for pyrolysis-based demetallization of heavy oil was established. During pyrolysis, the demetallization of heavy oil is achieved by condensing metal-rich resins and asphaltenes to coke. The condensation of oil components originally contained in heavy oil differs greatly in reaction behavior, having the activation energy between 167 and 361 kJ/mol. As the pyrolysis progresses, the newly formed heavy components show a condensation behavior close to that of the light components. Limited by high activation energy and low initial fraction, the condensation of asphaltenes to coke and the resulting removal of metals contained in asphaltenes are hindered. Meanwhile, the condensation of light components has a major contribution to coke formation. An increase in reaction temperature accelerates the demetallization, but hardly changes the yield and component distribution of liquid products at the same metal removal rate.