Optimizing support acidity of NiMo catalysts for increasing the yield of benzene, toluene and xylene in tetralin hydrocracking

Abstract

To enhance the yields of benzene, toluene, and xylene in tetralin hydrocracking, the effect of the support acid properties of NiMo catalysts on hydrocracking performance of tetralin were investigated in this study. NaY zeolites were modified by hydrothermal treatment to form USY zeolites at different temperatures and adjust the type and amount of acid. In addition, H-Beta was loaded into the USY to further adjust the acidic properties of the catalysts. The result shows that when the total B acid content of the catalyst is maintained between 150 and 200 μmol·g^–1, the total acid amount is maintained between 1.7 and 1.9 mmol·g^–1, and the L/B (L and B acids) ratio is maintained between 1.5 and 2, the catalysts have favorable performances on tetralin hydrocracking. Under this condition, the catalysts have a yield of benzene, toluene, and xylene higher than 30 wt % and a selectivity for benzene, toluene, and xylene higher than 35%. The tetralin conversion is greater than 85 wt %. The AB6 catalyst obtains the best hydrocracking effect with the conversion of tetralin reaching 90.24 wt %, the yields of benzene, toluene, and xylene reaching 33.58 wt %, and the selectivity of benzene, toluene, and xylene reaching 37.21%, respectively.

Key words： hydrocracking; tetralin; benzene; toluene and xylene; acid properties; reaction pathways

Competing interests

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Acknowledgements

The authors acknowledge the supports from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. U22B20140 and 22021004).

Electronic Supplementary Material

Supplementary material is available in the online version of this article at https://doi.org/10.1007/s11705-023-2372-2 and is accessible for authorized users.

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