Steam catalytic cracking and lump kinetics of naphtha to light olefins over nanocrystalline ZSM-5 zeolite.

This study investigates the reaction pathways and kinetics to comprehend the catalytic cracking of dodecane, a heavy naphtha model compound, over the nanocrystalline ZSM-5 catalyst in the presence and absence of steam with the aim of increasing olefin production. The nanocrystalline zeolite was characterized using XRD and BET, and the surface acidity was measured by NH-TPD and Py-FTIR. The steam treated ZSM-5 contributed to an increase in pore volume with extra-framework alumina, resulting in highly catalytic active sites and hence higher olefin selectivity.

Catalytic conversion of heavy naphtha to reformate over the phosphorus-ZSM-5 catalyst at a lower reforming temperature.

Naphtha reforming to aromatics, naphthenes, and iso-paraffins is an essential process to increase the octane number of gasoline through the utilization of middle naphtha (whole). A ZSM-5 zeolite catalyst with modified medium pores was developed to comprehend the existing limitation of catalytic reforming to the unutilized refinery feedstock of heavy naphtha. The study applied a lower reforming conversion temperature (350 °C) than a conventional reformer without noble metal addition in an effort to lower the carbon footprint of the process and catalyst cost.