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The Fifth Story of the Case of Excellence
Date
2022-09-05
Views
1,041
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Left: Energy Resource Circulation Room Lim Seok-hyun, Right: Energy Resource Circulation Room Hung Hai Pham





Top 5% Journal of Excellence J. Petroleum Sci. & Engineering


1. the subject of the thesis - Hydrocracking and hydrotreating reaction kinetics of heavy oil in CSTR using a dispersed catalyst  (Hung Hai Pham the first author)  


2. the subject of the thesis - Reaction characteristics and sediment formation of slurry phase hydrocracking with vacuum residue in a bench-scale bubble column reactor  (First author Lim Seok-hyun)


Information: A Study on the High Addition of Non-Traditional Crude Oil (Medium Oil), an Alternative Crude Oil







Please introduce this excellent paper.




- Lim Seok-hyun: This is a research paper on the slurry phase hydrolysis process, which is one of the technologies for producing non-traditional oil due to the decrease in traditional oil reserves. This paper presents the data required for the slurry hydrolysis reactor or process design and guidelines for stable process operation.


- Hung Hai Pham : The publication is the study of the hydrocracking and hydrotreating reaction kinetics of heavy oil in CSTR using a dispersed catalyst. The outcome of the study is the understanding of slurry hydrocracking reactions and kinetic models for process and reactor design.




 What is the reason or background for starting the study?


- Lim Seok-hyun: I majored in chemical engineering when I was undergraduate, and I wanted to take advantage of my major and do research related to energy. Among them, the oil refining field seemed to be able to utilize my major well as an orthodox field of chemical engineering, and I thought the campus of the Korea Institute of Energy Technology where I graduated can study properly in Korea.


- Hung Hai Pham : Slurry-phase hydrocracking technology is a promising technology to upgrade heavy oil. A kinetics study is essential for slurry phase process development and slurry phase bubble column reactor design. However, there is a lack of studies for the hydrocracking (HCK) and hydrotreating (HDT) reactions of heavy oil, so I have studied HCK and HDT reaction characteristics and kinetic models to provide data and kinetic models for process optimization and reactor design.




The two of you published an excellent paper through collaboration. What was the most helpful part for each other?




- Lim Seok-hyun: Heavy oil, a non-traditional oil, is made up of tens of thousands of compounds, making it very difficult to directly observe reactions occurring inside or various physical phenomena. In this regard, Hung Hai Pham deeply conducted simulation research on physical phenomena and reaction mechanisms in the reactor, and in that process, it helped me to interpret the results and understand the phenomena.


- Hung Hai Pham : There are a lot of benefits from collaboration with lab members. First, it is open for frequent discussion and sharing to improve ideas and better understanding. Second, it is willing to learn different skillsets from each other because we have different knowledge backgrounds (I have a background in mathematical models and my lab mate, Suk Hyun Lim, has a background in experimental apparatus). Last but not least, it is always ready to encourage each other to test new ideas when facing challenges.



Were there any difficulties or obstacles in your research?




- Lim Seok-hyun: I mainly conducted a process experiment, which involved oil with high temperature and high pressure conditions and high viscosity enough to exist as a solid at room temperature, so it took a lot of labor and cost to do the experiment once. I was also worried about the performance because it took more effort than other fields to get one piece of data. However, the technical teacher in our team helped me a lot in the experimental part, and with the help of many doctors related to research, I was able to publish such an excellent thesis.


- Hung Hai Pham : Experimental design, kinetic modeling, and kinetic estimating are necessary in reaction kinetics investigations in order to obtain the experiment data and kinetic model. I had to figure out the settings that would produce intrinsic kinetic data for experiment design. The batch reactor was initially employed, but it did not yield the data because of a mass transfer effect brought on by a drop in pressure throughout the reaction. In order to gather intrinsic kinetic data, a continuous stirred tank reactor (CSTR) was ultimately adopted to eliminate the effect of mass transfer and zero reaction time.

There are several factors to take into account in kinetic modeling in order to extract the intrinsic kinetic parameters, which are unaffected by transport processes like mass transfer and hydrodynamics. However, the reactor model was not adequately chosen at first, leading to less trustworthy kinetic parameters. The kinetic model also required testing by altering certain routes. A kinetic model with an excessive number of routes, however, will make parameter estimation problematic. With the help of Dr. Nam Sun Nho and Dr. Kang Seok Go's advice, as well as discussions with my lab mates, I was able to resolve the aforementioned problems, leading to a well-developed kinetic model that accurately represent the reaction system under the effect of pressure, temperature, and reaction time.




 Is there any episode that you remember from your career as a researcher?




- Lim Seok-hyun: There was an experiment in which the process was driven for a long time, and I remember suffering from a lot of process problems during this process. In addition, since it was a long drive, all members of our team participated in the drive and took turns, and in this process, it was most impressive to see everyone working hard to achieve a sense of belonging to the team and successful research.


- Hung Hai Pham : One of the things I remember is the time at a conference in Mexico. Fortunately, I got the chance to go to an international conference from my advisor. It was even more surprising that I had met my Mexican friend who had visited KIER before. I fully enjoyed learning and hanging out with my friend at that time.




What are your goals or things you want to do in the future?




- Lim Seok-hyun: My goal is to develop my capabilities and expertise by conducting research on chemical processes in various tasks in the future and develop practical processes that help the country through these experiences.



- Hung Hai Pham : My first goal is to continuously do research at KIER as a post-doc position, and my second goal is to continue to strengthen my expertise and expand my working network in research and industry fields. And my final goal is to found a company (based in Vietnam) through which I wish to have collaborations with KIER in the future.




 What do you want to say to other students?




- Lim Seok-hyun: Unlike graduate schools in general universities, I think it is a graduate school that is clearly differentiated from the scale of the assignment and research infrastructure. I hope you can make the most of this differentiation and achieve good results!


- Hung Hai Pham : I wish to have a talk with other students about two words: "effort" and "purpose". When you understand the goal, you'll think and figure out how to get there. After that, your effort is your best strength to help you do what you need to do in the right way in order to achieve your goals when you know how and what to do.