Activated Carbon Addition Methods on the Pre-impregnation Process of Co-Mo in Y-Zeolite Ultra Stable: A Properties Exploration and Enhancement of Metals Loaded

The amount of loaded Co-Mo metal on the Y-Zeolite Ultra Stable (USY) was increased by the addition of activated carbon in the pre-impregnation process. USY modification was done by adding activated carbon to USY as much as 10 wt%. The process of adding activated carbon is carried out by three methods, i.e., grinding with sucrose binder (ACU1), without sucrose (ACU2), and conducting by ball milling (ACU3). Wet impregnation method was employed to disperse the Co and Mo, sequentially. Composites were characterized using Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and surface area analyzer (SAA). Metal dispersions were observed by X-ray fluorescence (XRF). The FTIR suggests an interaction between USY and activated car-bon, while the XRD result indicated the none structural transformation of USY zeolite. The SAA analysis showed an increased total pore radius with the activated carbon addition. The XRF confirmed the increasing of total metals dispersion of 6.25% (ACU1); 5.48%(ACU2); 5.18% (ACU3); compare to USY origin with 3.28% metals loaded.

Role of zeolite content in Ni-Mo/β-USY zeolite catalyst on hydrocracking of n-hexadecane and vacuum gas oil in a batch reactor and a fixed-bed reactor

In this paper, different materials that involved amorphous silica–alumina and hydrothermally synthesized beta zeolite and treated Y zeolite (USY) were introduced as parts of the hydrocracking catalyst supports. The prepared supports were used for preparation of Ni-Mo/silica alumina–zeolite catalysts by wetness impregnation method. The prepared catalysts were characterized by BET, temperature programmed desorption (TPD), temperature programmed reduction (TPR), and field emission – scanning electron microscopy (FE–SEM) methods. Effect of zeolite type and content on hydrocracking of n-hexadecane and vacuum gas oil in a batch and a fixed-bed reactor was investigated. Also, the content of coke formed after reaction was measured by thermal gravimetric methods (TGA). Hydrocracking was done at 400 °C and 55 bar. The hydrocracking of vacuum gas oil results showed that in the Ni-Mo/10B-30USY catalyst containing higher USY zeolite with high total acidity, selectivity to middle distillate was higher than the other (90%). Moreover, the Ni-Mo/10B-30USY catalyst in hydrocracking of n-hexadecane had a higher yield (82%) and was more selective to heavier products (C9–C12). The findings indicated that in the Ni-Mo/10B-30USY catalyst, coke content was more than the other due to high acidity.

Local Induction Heating Capabilities of Zeolites Charged with Metal and Oxide MNPs for Application in HDPE Hydrocracking: A Proof of Concept

Zeolites are widely used in high-temperature oil refining processes such as fluid catalytic cracking (FCC), hydrocracking, and aromatization. Significant energy cost are associated with these processes due to the high temperatures required. The induction heating promoted by magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) under radio frequency fields could contribute to solving this problem by providing a supplementary amount of heat in a nano-localized way, just at the active centre site where the catalytic process takes place. In this study, the potential of such a complementary route to reducing energetic requirements is evaluated. The catalytic cracking reaction under a hydrogen atmosphere (hydrocracking) applied to the conversion of plastics was taken as an application example. Thus, a commercial zeolite catalyst (H-USY) was impregnated with three different magnetic nanoparticles: nickel (Ni), cobalt (Co), maghemite (γ-Fe2O3), and their combinations and subjected to electromagnetic fields. Temperature increases of approximately 80 °C were measured for H-USY zeolite impregnated with γ-Fe2O3 and Ni-γ-Fe2O3 due to the heat released under the radio frequency fields. The potential of the resulting MNPs derived catalyst for HDPE (high-density polyethylene) conversion was also evaluated by thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) under hydrogen atmosphere. This study is a proof of concept to show that induction heating could be used in combination with traditional resistive heating as an additional energy supplier, thereby providing an interesting alternative in line with a greener technology.