Hydrocracking Marlim vacuum residue with natural limonite. Part 2: experimental cracking in a slurry-type continuous reactor

Disposable Australian iron-slurry (AL) and NiO–MoO3–Al2O3 (NiMo) catalysts were used in hydrocracking experiments to convert Marlim vacuum residue (ML-VR) in a slurry-bed continuous flow reactor at temperatures of 440–460 °C, under a hydrogen pressure of 14.7 MPa and an LHSV of 0.5. The degree of conversion ranged from 54 to 83%, depending on the reaction temperature and catalyst used, with AL giving more complete conversion than NiMo. AL also proved more active in the removal of nickel. Hydrogen consumption was linearly correlated with conversion regardless of the catalyst used.