Fluid catalytic cracking: recent developments on the grand old lady of zeolite catalysis

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Abstract

Fluid catalytic cracking (FCC) is one of the major conversion technologies in the oil refinery industry, and the largest commercial catalytic process that uses zeolite materials.

Abstract

Fluid catalytic cracking (FCC) is one of the major conversion technologies in the oil refinery industry. FCC currently produces the majority of the world's gasoline, as well as an important fraction of propylene for the polymer industry. In this critical review, we give an overview of the latest trends in this field of research. These trends include ways to make it possible to process either very heavy or very light crude oil fractions as well as to co-process biomass-based oxygenates with regular crude oil fractions, and convert these more complex feedstocks in an increasing amount of propylene and diesel-range fuels. After providing some general background of the FCC process, including a short history as well as details on the process, reactor design, chemical reactions involved and catalyst material, we will discuss several trends in FCC catalysis research by focusing on ways to improve the zeolite structure stability, propylene selectivity and the overall catalyst accessibility by (a) the addition of rare earth elements and phosphorus, (b) constructing hierarchical pores systems and (c) the introduction of new zeolite structures. In addition, we present an overview of the state-of-the-art micro-spectroscopy methods for characterizing FCC catalysts at the single particle level. These new characterization tools are able to explain the influence of the harsh FCC processing conditions ( e.g. steam) and the presence of various metal poisons ( e.g. V, Fe and Ni) in the crude oil feedstocks on the 3-D structure and accessibility of FCC catalyst materials.

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Rapid planetesimal formation in turbulent circumstellar discs

Anders Johansen, Jeffrey S. Oishi, Mordecai-Mark Mac Low … (2007)

The initial stages of planet formation in circumstellar gas discs proceed via dust grains that collide and build up larger and larger bodies (Safronov 1969). How this process continues from metre-sized boulders to kilometre-scale planetesimals is a major unsolved problem (Dominik et al. 2007): boulders stick together poorly (Benz 2000), and spiral into the protostar in a few hundred orbits due to a head wind from the slower rotating gas (Weidenschilling 1977). Gravitational collapse of the solid component has been suggested to overcome this barrier (Safronov 1969, Goldreich & Ward 1973, Youdin & Shu 2002). Even low levels of turbulence, however, inhibit sedimentation of solids to a sufficiently dense midplane layer (Weidenschilling & Cuzzi 1993, Dominik et al. 2007), but turbulence must be present to explain observed gas accretion in protostellar discs (Hartmann 1998). Here we report the discovery of efficient gravitational collapse of boulders in locally overdense regions in the midplane. The boulders concentrate initially in transient high pressures in the turbulent gas (Johansen, Klahr, & Henning 2006), and these concentrations are augmented a further order of magnitude by a streaming instability (Youdin & Goodman 2005, Johansen, Henning, & Klahr 2006, Johansen & Youdin 2007) driven by the relative flow of gas and solids. We find that gravitationally bound clusters form with masses comparable to dwarf planets and containing a distribution of boulder sizes. Gravitational collapse happens much faster than radial drift, offering a possible path to planetesimal formation in accreting circumstellar discs.

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The Dicke Quantum Phase Transition with a Superfluid Gas in an Optical Cavity

Ferdinand Brennecke, Tilman Esslinger, Christine Guerlin … (2009)

A phase transition describes the sudden change of state in a physical system, such as the transition between a fluid and a solid. Quantum gases provide the opportunity to establish a direct link between experiment and generic models which capture the underlying physics. A fundamental concept to describe the collective matter-light interaction is the Dicke model which has been predicted to show an intriguing quantum phase transition. Here we realize the Dicke quantum phase transition in an open system formed by a Bose-Einstein condensate coupled to an optical cavity, and observe the emergence of a self-organized supersolid phase. The phase transition is driven by infinitely long-ranged interactions between the condensed atoms. These are induced by two-photon processes involving the cavity mode and a pump field. We show that the phase transition is described by the Dicke Hamiltonian, including counter-rotating coupling terms, and that the supersolid phase is associated with a spontaneously broken spatial symmetry. The boundary of the phase transition is mapped out in quantitative agreement with the Dicke model. The work opens the field of quantum gases with long-ranged interactions, and provides access to novel quantum phases.

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Versatile Photocatalytic Systems for H2 Generation in Water Based on an Efficient DuBois-Type Nickel Catalyst

Manuela Groß, Anna Reynal, James R. Durrant … (2013)

The generation of renewable H2 through an efficient photochemical route requires photoinduced electron transfer (ET) from a light harvester to an efficient electrocatalyst in water. Here, we report on a molecular H2 evolution catalyst (NiP) with a DuBois-type [Ni(P2 R′N2 R″)2]2+ core (P2 R′N2 R″ = bis(1,5-R′-diphospha-3,7-R″-diazacyclooctane), which contains an outer coordination sphere with phosphonic acid groups. The latter functionality allows for good solubility in water and immobilization on metal oxide semiconductors. Electrochemical studies confirm that NiP is a highly active electrocatalyst in aqueous electrolyte solution (overpotential of approximately 200 mV at pH 4.5 with a Faradaic yield of 85 ± 4%). Photocatalytic experiments and investigations on the ET kinetics were carried out in combination with a phosphonated Ru(II) tris(bipyridine) dye (RuP) in homogeneous and heterogeneous environments. Time-resolved luminescence and transient absorption spectroscopy studies confirmed that directed ET from RuP to NiP occurs efficiently in all systems on the nano- to microsecond time scale, through three distinct routes: reductive quenching of RuP in solution or on the surface of ZrO2 (“on particle” system) or oxidative quenching of RuP when the compounds were immobilized on TiO2 (“through particle” system). Our studies show that NiP can be used in a purely aqueous solution and on a semiconductor surface with a high degree of versatility. A high TOF of 460 ± 60 h–1 with a TON of 723 ± 171 for photocatalytic H2 generation with a molecular Ni catalyst in water and a photon-to-H2 quantum yield of approximately 10% were achieved for the homogeneous system.

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Journal

Journal ID (nlm-ta): Chem Soc Rev

Journal ID (iso-abbrev): Chem Soc Rev

Title: Chemical Society Reviews

Publisher: Royal Society of Chemistry

ISSN (Print): 0306-0012

ISSN (Electronic): 1460-4744

Publication date (Print): 21 October 2015

Publication date (Electronic): 5 October 2015

Volume: 44

Issue: 20

Pages: 7342-7370

Affiliations

[a ] Inorganic Chemistry and Catalysis Group , Debye Institute for Nanomaterials Science , Faculty of Science , Utrecht University , Universiteitsweg 99 , 3584 CG Utrecht , The Netherlands . Email: e.t.c.vogt@ 123456uu.nl ; Email: b.m.weckhuysen@ 123456uu.nl

[b ] Albemarle Catalysts Company BV , PO Box 37650, 1030 BE , Amsterdam , The Netherlands

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Publisher ID: c5cs00376h

DOI: 10.1039/c5cs00376h

PMC ID: 4594121

PubMed ID: 26382875

SO-VID: d573bcdb-24f0-4647-a935-419bbf4a28b0

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This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License ( http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/2.0/uk/) which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Fluid catalytic cracking: recent developments on the grand old lady of zeolite catalysis

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Most cited references 121

Rapid planetesimal formation in turbulent circumstellar discs

The Dicke Quantum Phase Transition with a Superfluid Gas in an Optical Cavity

Versatile Photocatalytic Systems for H2 Generation in Water Based on an Efficient DuBois-Type Nickel Catalyst

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