Principal component analysis in an experimental cold flow model of a fluid catalytic cracking unit by gammametry

The fluid dynamic behavior of riser of a cold flow model of a Fluid Catalytic Cracking Unit (FCCU) was investigated. The experimental data were obtained by the nuclear technique of gamma transmission. A gamma source was placed diametrically opposite to a detector in any straight section of the riser. The gas-solid flow through riser was monitored with a source of Americium-241 what allowed obtaining information of the axial solid concentration without flow disturbance and also identifying the dependence of this concentration profile with several independent variables. The MatLab^® and Statistica^® softwares were used. Statistica tool employed was the Principal Components Analysis (PCA), that consisted of the job of the data organization, through two-dimensional head offices to allow extract relevant information about the importance of the independent variables on axial solid concentration in a cold flow riser. The variables investigated were mass flow rate of solid, mass flow rate of gas, pressure in the riser base and the relative height in the riser. The first two components reached about 98% of accumulated percentage of explained variance.