Co and Ni-containing catalysts for heavy oil refining: the effect of ethanol on the composition and structure of catalytic cracking products

Abstract

The study deals with the products of thermal processing of heavy oil in the presence of Ni- and Co-containing catalysts that are formed in situ from the mixture of corresponding salts with ethanol. In comparison with thermal cracking, in the catalytic process the yield of bright fractions increases from 51 to 63 % and the yield of coke decreases from 3 to 2 wt.%. In the case of mixed Ni and Сo catalyst, the least yields of gas (5 wt.%) and coke (0.1 wt.%) are observed. A decrease in the sulfur content occurs in the products of both thermal (by 17 %) and catalytic cracking (from 12 to 32 rel.%) predominantly due to its removal as gaseous products. The structuralgroup characteristics of the averaged asphaltene molecules were studied before and after heavy oil cracking. XRD of solid cracking products was used to identify Ni0.96S, Ni9S8 and Co9S8 phases.