On August 13, the ARPEL Refining Committee’s Best Practices Exchange Group for FCC Units met again to discuss the capacity limitation due to fouling in the distillation tower bottoms system and the exchange system in the FCC unit.

On this occasion, the presentation was made by Engineer Carlos Mario Ríos from Ecopetrol’s Cartagena Refinery.

FCC units are of paramount importance to refinery economics since they are a major source not only to produce gasoline, but also to produce raw materials for petrochemicals, liquefied gases, and diesel.

One of the goals sought in all units, and especially in FCC units, is to optimize runs without incidents, and in the case presented by Ecopetrol staff, this is one of the most common causes of unit shutdowns, so the aim is to control the variables that help prevent this incident from occurring.

During the meeting, professionals from different companies discussed the possible causes and how to handle different variables to keep the process under control.

Link to the meeting recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4pn3uMpGPqQ&t=22s