Development of a Continuous Kinetic Model for Catalytic Hydrodenitrogenation of Bitumen

Catalytic hydrocracking of topped athabasca bitumen was investigated in a continuous stirredbasketreactor, using a fresh and spent commercial catalyst, as well as in the presence of nocatalyst. a continuous lumping model was developed for kinetic analysis of hydrodenitrogenationand hydrocracking reactions. the normalized boiling point was used to describe the reactantmixture as a continuous mixture. the continuous model, with five adjustable parameters, wasused to describe hydrocracking reactions. reactions of nitrogen compounds were describedby series reactions, involving cracking to lower molecular weight products, as well as directdenitrogenation. the model was able to accurately predict the weight percent of distillationfractions and their nitrogen content in the products