FLEXICOKING

The Flexible Resid

Upgrading Technology

Flexicoking Technology at Hellenic

Petroleum S.A. refinery in Elefsis, Greece.
Commissioned in 2012.

FLEXICOKING
The Cost-Effective Coking Technology, without the Coke
FLEXICOKING technology is a commercially proven, cost-effective, fluidized bed process that thermally converts
heavy oils to lighter products and flexigas Coking without the Coke. Low-cost feeds such as deep-cut vacuum resid;
atmospheric resid; oil sands bitumen; heavy whole crudes; and DAU, FCC, and ebullated-bed bottoms are converted
to high-value products. FLEXICOKING technology with integrated steam/air gasification offers greater flexibility than
conventional Delayed Coking, and does it economically. The FLEXICOKING technology not only produces clean liquids of
equivalent quantities and similar quality to Delayed Coking, but also gasifies the low-value coke to produce a clean, highvalue flexigas that can be used in place of natural gas and conventional fuel gas in refinery processes. Flexigas can also be
used to generate electric power and to produce H2, N2, and CO2.
Key Advantages

Proven: Commercially proven for more than

38 years in ExxonMobil and in licensed third-party
units. All FLEXICOKING units are operating today
at capacities greater than original design. Current
combined operating capacity is 227 kbd/12 MTA.

TOUGH FEED 2

FLEXible: A robust process, capable of handling a

variety of feeds with a wide range of high Conradson
Carbon Residue (CCR), sulfur, and heavy metals, without
the need for a feed furnace.

POWER GENERATION

COMBINATION

FLEXIGAS USE
SIFICATION
GA
Max.

Economic: Integrated simple steam/air gasification,

carbon steel construction throughout, and the
absence of feed furnaces are key factors resulting in
significantly lower capital investment when compared
to Delayed Coking with complex oxygen gasification.
Expect greater comparative savings in electric powergeneration applications (steam or combined cycle).

These benefits come to you in a compact package. The

layout of modern FLEXICOKING units offers reduced
plot space about 20 percent less than that of a basic
Delayed Coking unit of similar capacity.

H2/N2/CO2 RECOVERY

FUEL GAS

Optimizable: Coke gasification can be optimized

on the run, to debottleneck the unit, or to satisfy
operational requirements such as changes in feed
formulations and variations in flexigas consumption.

Reliable: Continuous, steady state operation in

combination with cold-wall carbon steel construction
contributes to high reliability and service factors that
routinely exceed 92 percent.

COMBINATION

FEED SELECTOR

Multi-Purpose: The high-sulfur, low-value coke is

converted to a clean, economical multi-purpose
flexigas, which can be used in refinery furnaces,
boilers, and gas turbines, or processed to recover H2,
N2, and CO2. ExxonMobils FLEXSORB process is
incorporated to reduce H2S in flexigas to 10 wppm,
or as needed.

Environmental: Continuous, non-batch operation and

closed coke handling system results in low-particulate
and fugitive hydrocarbon emissions. Much lower SOx
and NOx emissions are realized by burning the clean
flexigas, when compared to burning high sulfur coke.

TOUGH FEED 3

TOUGH FEED 1

Min.

CO

KE MAKE

CONTROL PANEL

APPLICATIONS

Power
(Combined Cycle)
Power
(Steam Cycle)
Flexigas for
Refinery Fuel
Coke for Sale

2.9
4.0
2.5
3.1
1.3
1.0

0 1 2 3 4
CAPITAL INVESTMENT FACTOR
DELAYED COKING

FLEXICOKING

How FLEXICOKING Technology Works

The vacuum resid feed enters the scrubber for directcontact heat exchange with the reactor overhead
product vapors. The higher-boiling point hydrocarbons
(~975F+/525C+) present in the reactor product vapors
condense in the scrubber and return to the reactor, in
mixture with the fresh feed. Lighter overhead product
vapors in the scrubber go to conventional fractionation
and light-ends recovery. The feed is thermally cracked in
the reactor fluidized bed to a full range of gas and liquid
products, and coke. Coke inventory is maintained by
circulating the bed coke from the reactor to the heater via
the cold coke transfer line.

cracking reaction. The excess coke in the heater is

transferred to the gasifier, where it reacts with air and
steam to produce a gas. The gasifier products, consisting
of a gas and coke mixture, return to the heater to heat up
the coke. The gas exits the heater overhead and goes to
steam generation, to dry/wet particulate removal, and to
desulfurization in the integrated FLEXSORB process.
The clean flexigas is then ready for use as fuel in
refinery boilers and furnaces and/or for steam and
power generation.
Approximately 95 percent of the coke generated in the
reactor is converted in the process. Only a small amount
of product coke is collected as fines from the flexigas and
purged from the heater to extract feed metals.

In the heater, the coke is heated by the gasifier products

and circulated back to the reactor via the hot coke
transfer line to supply the heat that sustains the thermal

Flexicoking Process
PRODUCT TO
FRACTIONATOR
FEED
SCRUBBER

FEED MIX TO
INJECTORS

HOT
COKE

HP STEAM
GENERATION

CLEAN
FLEXIGAS
TO USERS

REACTOR

DRY COKE
FINES
COLD
COKE

WET COKE
FINES

SOUR
WATER
COKE PURGE

AIR + STEAM

RICH FLEXSORB
TO REGENERATION

Full-Range Products Slate

FLEXICOKING technology produces a full range of
products, from a C4- reactor gas to C5/975F (525C)
liquid products, the multi-purpose flexigas, and lastly a
small stream of low-sulfur coke that is purged to extract
feed metals.

Guaranteed Performance
The first FLEXICOKING unit began operation in 1976, and
since then five others have come online, the most recent
one in 2012. Since 2010, we have also licensed three new
units with a combined capacity of 114kbd/6.3 MTA. These
are currently in different stages of construction.

COKER GAS
C2 Fuel Gas, C3/C4S for Alkylation,
Chemicals, LPG Sales
LPG
To Hydrotreating

To FCC, Hydrocracker & Chemicals

To Refinery Fuel, Power Generation

H2, N2, CO2 Production
COKE
Coke Sales & Metals Reclamation

ExxonMobil has licensed fluidized bed coking technology since the 1950s, including the largest fluid coker, which is
located in Syncrude, Fort McMurray, Canada. Our experience ranges from 5 to 105 kbd (60 to 750 mtons/hr) unit
capacities and a variety of difficult feeds with CCR values ranging between 17 and 37.
ExxonMobil has equally extensive experience supporting its licensees, and this is particularly true of the FLEXICOKING
technology, because ExxonMobil owns and operates FLEXICOKING units in two of its largest refineries: Rotterdam in the
Netherlands and Baytown, Texas, in the United States.
We see an increasing market interest in FLEXICOKING technology worldwide. We expect the trend to continue well into the
future, particularly in parts of the world where natural gas is limited and/or expensive, and in environmentally sensitive areas.

In Operation
Athens, Greece
Houston, Texas
Amuay, Venezuela
Kawasaki, Japan
Rotterdam, The Netherlands
Martinez, California

H In Construction

Moscow, Russia

Tuapse, Russia

Talara, Peru
China

FLEXICOKING Technology Highlights

Produces a clean and valuable flexigas fuel

Achieves superior environmental performance

Offers maximum flexibility in terms of processed

feeds, product utilization, and operating modes

Requires lower capital investment

FLEXICOKING Technology
at ESSO Nederland refinery in Rotterdam,
The Netherlands. Commissioned in 1986.

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