Cracking and isomerization functionalities of bi-metallic zeolites for naphtha value upgradation

Effect of acid and metal functionalities of several mono- and bi-metallic wide pore zeolites such as BEA and Y on the cracking and isomerization properties of n-heptane as well as two industrial naphtha feedstocks have been studied. Among these, the bi-metallic Pt–Cr–HBEA catalyst exhibited appropriate catalytic properties responsible for high isomerization and octane boosting. Detailed studies envision that the role of Cr is bi-functional, namely, to change the acidity of the zeolite support towards the moderate strength responsible for controlled cracking and to promote the reducibility and dispersion properties of the Pt for the effective isomerization reaction. This has resulted in enhancement in research octane number (ΔRON) of two industrial naphtha feedstocks with 22 and 43 units increase in RON along with negligible amount of aromatics, especially benzene that makes the product suitable for gasoline applications. The catalyst exhibited constant performance in the studied period of 70 h.