Cracking catalysts processing

Another approach used to reduce the harmful effects of heavy metals in petroleum residues is metal passivation. In this process an oil-soluble treating agent containing antimony is used that deposits on the catalyst surface in competition with contaminant metals, thus reducing the catalytic activity of these metals in promoting coke and gas formation. Metal passivation is especially important in fluid catalytic cracking (FCC) processes. Additives that improve FCC processes were found to increase catalyst life and improve the yield and quality of products. ... 

Cracking is an endothermic reaction, implying that the temperature must be rather high (500 °C), with the consequence that catalysts deactivate rapidly by carbon deposition. The fluidized catalytic cracking (FCC) process, developed by Standard Oil Company of New Jersey (1940) (better known as ESSO and nowadays EXXON), offers a solution for the short lifetime of the catalyst. Although cracking is... 

The desulfurization process reported by the authors was a hybrid process, with a biooxidation step followed by a FCC step. The desulfurization apparently occurs in the second step. Thus, the process seems of no value, since it does not remove sulfur prior to the FCC step, but only oxidizes it to sulfoxides, sulfones, or sulfonic acids. The benefit of such an approach is not clearly outlined. The benefit of sulfur conversion can be realized only after its removal, and not via a partial oxidation. Most of the hydrotreatment is carried out prior to the FCC units, partially due to the detrimental effect that sulfur compounds exert on the cracking catalyst. It is widely accepted that the presence of sulfur, during the regeneration stage of the FCC units, causes catalyst deactivation associated with zeolite decay. In general terms, the subject matter of this document has apparent drawbacks. 

Both devices described above were developed in order to test the friability of fluid-cracking catalysts. Nowadays the application of these or similar tests is a common procedure in the development of fluidized bed catalysts. Contractor et al. (1989), for example, used a submerged-jet test to compare the attrition resistance of newly developed VPO catalysts. In fact, such tests can be applied to any type of fluidized bed processes. Sometimes they have to be slightly modified to adapt them to the process under consideration. The drilled plate may, for example, be substituted by... 

Met-X A continuous process for removing traces of metals from cracking catalysts by ion-exchange. Developed by Atlantic Refining Company and first operated in Philadelphia in 1961. 

Catalytic cracking is a process that is currently performed exclusively over fluidized catalyst beds. The fluid catalytic cracking (FCC) process was introduced in 1942 and at that time replaced the conventional moving bed processes. These early processes were based on acid-treated clays as acidic catalysts. The replacement of the amorphous aluminosilicate catalysts by Faujasite-type zeolites in the early-1960s is regarded as a major improvement in FCC performance. The new acidic catalysts had a remarkable activity and produced substantially higher yields than the old ones. 

The first cracking catalysts were acid-leached montmorillonite clays. The acid leach was to remove various metal impurities, principally iron, copper, and nickel, that could exert adverse effects on the cracking performance of a catalyst. The catalysts were first used in fixed- and moving-bed reactor systems in the form of shaped pellets. Later, with the development of the fluid catalytic cracking process, clay catalysts were made in the form of a ground, sized powder. Clay catalysts are relatively inexpensive and have been used extensively for many years. 

Like catalytic cracking, hydrocracking processes generate toxic metal compounds, many of which are present in spent catalyst sludge and catalyst fines generated from catalytic cracking and hydrocracking. These include metals such as nickel, cobalt, and molybdenum. 

Thermal cracking a process that decomposes, rearranges, or combines hydrocarbon molecules by the application of heat, without the aid of catalysts. 

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