Experimental and kinetic study of catalytic cracking of heavy fuel oil over E-CAT/MCM-41 catalyst

Abstract

The catalytic cracking of heavy fuel oil was investigated over the equilibrium fluid catalytic cracking catalyst (E-Cat) as a base component with the mesoporous MCM-41 as an additive. The catalytic performance of the E-Cat/MCM-41 system was assessed in a fixed-bed MAT unit. The reaction was performed at temperatures of 500, 530, 550 and 600°C and the product distributions in both gaseous and liquid phases were studied. The yields of products including light olefins, liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), gasoline, dry gas, coke and also the conversions obtained over different temperatures were reported and some generalities discussed. The maximum yield of propylene (17.5%) was obtained at 550°C whereas the highest conversion and gasoline yield was gained at 530°C. An eight-lump kinetic model containing 11 kinetic parameters was considered. Those parameters were estimated based on experimental data at specific temperatures by fourth order Runge–Kutta algorithm and the least square method. In addition, Arrhenius equation was used to calculate apparent activation energies. The calculated data of the product yields were in a close agreement with the experimental data.