In petroleum refineries, excessive foaming in process equipments leads to inefficiency and higher maintenance cost. A very relevant aspect of current petroleum refinery operations is the heating up of vacuum resid in a coke drum and the subsequent generation of unwanted foam. This research paper describes the foam produced by heating vacuum resid in a glass coker experimental set up in terms of foam over temperature. The vacuum resids for analysis were obtained from major US oil companies like Chevron, Shell, Petrobras, etc. Run data are provided that illustrate the variation of foam over temperature for different vacuum resids and at what time the foam over phenomenon started during the glass coker run. Also the production of white vapors (an intermediate stage for foam generation), in terms of the first incidence of white vapor temperature have been reported. The experimental results clearly lead to the fact that foaming during a glass coker run is dependent on the resid (feedstock) properties and run operating conditions.

In oil/gas production, foaming is a serious issue and if left unattended, can lead to unexpected process shutdowns. The foaming tendency of crude oil is directly proportional to the concentration of asphaltenes (Callaghan et al., 1985). The vapor generation and the presence of natural surfactants like asphaltenes and resins are crucial towards foam growth and lead to enhanced foaming in delayed cokers (Kremer and Hueston, 2002). Also, the foam producing capability of a hydrocarbon mixture is dependent on the surfactant and on the mixture components chosen to create the foam (Guitian and Joseph, 1996). The viscosity of the feedstock and asphaltene aggregation play an important role towards foam growth (Zaki et al., 2002). The presence of surfactant is also crucial for a gas-liquid mixture to foam (Joseph, 1997). The amount of surfactant added to initiate foaming has a very large effect in the generation of foam (Kouloheris, 1987). The impact of surfactants on foam production parameters is of great interest to researchers (Ranjani and Ramamurthy, 2010).

In this particular study, a glass coker was constructed and testing was begun for the purpose of visually observing and measuring foam formation under carefully controlled coking conditions. The tests were performed in 2005 in the TUDCP Pilot Plant, Tulsa, Oklahoma, US.

Chemical Engineering Journal, Metal Ions Onto Eggshell Powder, Heavy Metal Contamination, Water Resources, Traditional Treatment Techniques, Aquatic System, Equilibrium Biosorption Data, Biosorption Processes, Biomass Concentration, Biosorption Equilibrium, Biosorption Isotherm, Redlich Peterson Models.