CATALYTIC CRACKING OF GAS OIL: EFFECT OF THE AMOUNT OF ZEOLITE IN COMPOSITE CATALYSTS

In the present paper the performance of a composite isothermal catalytic pellet in the cracking of Gas-Oil is examined theoretically. The composite pellet contains spherical particles of X-Zeolite uniformly dispersed in a Silica-Alumina matrix. It is assumed that the cracking of gas oil for the production of Gasoline can be described by three-lumped components. The composite pellet deactivates due to coke formation and the deactivation is included in the calculations. The application of the composite pellet model to Thermofor Catalytic Crackers provides a fairly good agreement with available industrial data. The pellet radius and the volume fraction of zeolite play major roles in the behaviour of a composite Catalytic Cracking catalyst.