Ritesh Bisen
Independent Researcher
India
Abstract
In 2015 the catalytic cracking of heavy petroleum fractions to light olefins and gasoline-range hydrocarbons represented a cornerstone of refinery operation. Zeolite catalysts—particularly ultrastable Y (USY), ZSM-5, and mordenite—exhibited distinct acidity, pore architecture, and stability profiles that governed activity, selectivity, and deactivation behavior. This manuscript reviews engineering‐discipline developments through 2015, presenting three industrial case studies of fluid catalytic cracking (FCC) units optimized via zeolite tailoring. Methodologies include catalyst synthesis, fixed‐bed microreactor evaluation, pilot‐plant validation, and deactivation analysis by temperature‐programmed desorption, X-ray diffraction, and nitrogen physisorption. Results demonstrate that USY modified with rare‐earth exchange enhances gasoline yield by 5 wt % while ZSM-5 incorporation boosts light olefin selectivity by 15 wt %. Case studies detail catalyst life‐cycle management, attrition control, and feedstock flexibility. Conclusions underscore zeolite design’s critical role in process intensification and outline research gaps—particularly the need for improved hydrothermal stability and resistance to metal poisoning. Ten key references through 2015 are provided.
Keywords
Zeolite catalytic cracking, USY, ZSM-5, fluid catalytic cracking, olefin selectivity, hydrothermal stability
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