Novel macroporous residua FCC catalysts

It has been generally accepted that internal diffusion in catalysts has become increasingly important for Residue Fluid Catalytic Cracking (RFCC) because of the large molecules of residue, high reaction temperature and the short contact time between the catalysts and the residue during the catalytic process. The creation of mesopores and macropores inside RFCC catalysts is considered as an effective approach to improve the accessibility and catalyst performance. In this article, polystyrene particles were used as template to introduce macropores to the RFCC catalysts. The pore structure was characterized by SEM and N2 adsorption. The catalytic cracking performance of the RFCC catalysts with macroporous structure was tested in a fixed-bed tubular reactor using Daqing atmospheric residue as feed. The macroporous catalysts exhibit better catalytic performance, higher conversion, and higher yield of light oil than the controller catalyst.