A Molecular Kinetic Model incorporating Catalyst Acidity for Hydrocarbon
Catalytic Cracking
Abstract
We built a molecular-level kinetic model for hydrocarbon catalytic
cracking, incorporating the catalyst acidity as the parameter to
estimate the reaction rates. The n-decane and 1-hexene co-conversion
catalytic cracking process was chosen as the studying case. The reaction
network was automatically generated with a computer-aided algorithm. A
modified linear free energy relationship was proposed to estimate the
activation energy in a complex reaction system. The kinetic parameters
were initially regressed from the experimental data under various
reaction conditions. On this basis, the product composition was
evaluated for three catalytic cracking catalysts with different Si/Al.
The Bronsted acid and Lewis acid as the key catalyst properties were
correlated with the kinetic parameters. The built model can calculate
the product distribution, and molecular composition at different
reaction conditions for different catalysts. The sensitive study shows
that it will facilitate the model-based optimization of catalysts and
reaction conditions according to product demands.