Application of Response Surface Methodology in Study of the Product Yield Distribution of Thermal Cracking of Atmospheric Gasoil

In order to determine the yield distribution of thermal cracking of gasoil, a pilot plant wasdesigned and setup. a systematic experimental design was utilized based on ccd (centralcomposite design). the feed flow rate, steam ratio and temperature were considered as factorsto design the experiments. some statistical models were tuned based on the results of conductedexperiments. the models were evaluated with lack-of-fit and r-squared tests. the results ofthe analysis proved that the models fitted well with the experimental results of the consideredproducts. based on the experiments and statistical models the pilot plant was optimized in orderto maximize the net profit. at the optimum point coil outlet temperature, the feed flow rateand steam ratio were, respectively, equal to 843.8°c, 6.02 g/min and 0.46. regarding theseconditions, the yield of ethylene, propylene and butadiene and rate of coke formation would be23.82 wt%, 12.13 wt%, 2.42 wt% and 14.44 x 10^-7 g/cm^2.sec, respectively