Chapter 7 Pyrolysis of Hydrocarbons

Production of aromatic compounds in the heavy naphtha and light cycle oil ranges: catalytic cracking of aromatics and C10 naphthenic‐aromatics

“…The conversion of benzene (no catalyst) was lower than 0.02% at 8 s reaction time, a fact which is consistent with reports by Moldoveanu, who pointed out a remarkable thermal stability up to 1000 °C. The catalytic conversions on catalysts Cat‐F and Cat‐E were lower than 0.36% at the longest reaction time of 8 s, with coke being the most important product.…”

“…The thermal cracking of tetralin and naphthalene produced conversions of 5.46% and 4.55%, respectively. The lower conversion of naphthalene, which has a higher degree of unsaturation (H/C = 0.8), reflected its higher thermal stability . The saturated ring in the molecule of tetralin reduces its unsaturation (H/C = 1.2), and makes it possible to form naphthalene, which was observed as the main product.…”

Investigation of Island/Single-Core- and Archipelago/Multicore-Enriched Asphaltenes and Their Solubility Fractions by Thermal Analysis Coupled with High-Resolution Fourier Transform Ion Cyclotron Resonance Mass Spectrometry

“…A substantial amount of highly abundant compounds was also observed below the aromatic boundary of DBE 4. These compounds most probably correspond to alkenes produced by thermal cracking of alkyl side chains as well as building blocks containing naphthenic structural elements. ,, Wyoming whole asphaltenes revealed a lower maximum DBE of 16 and carbon numbers up to 45, with high amounts of non- or low-aromatic CH-class pyrolysis fragments detected. The non- or low-aromatic fragments most probably are derived from the cleavage of small naphthenic or even aromatic pendant groups or alkyl side chains, forming alkenes by hydrogen abstraction due to the thermal cracking process.…”

“…26,33,56 Wyoming whole asphaltenes revealed a lower maximum DBE of 16 and carbon numbers up to 45, with high amounts of non-or low-aromatic CH-class pyrolysis fragments detected. The non-or low-aromatic fragments most probably are derived from the cleavage of small naphthenic or even aromatic pendant groups or alkyl side chains, forming alkenes by hydrogen abstraction 88 due to the thermal cracking process. Considering that Wyoming asphaltenes are enriched in island structural motifs compared to Athabasca asphaltenes, the higher abundance of species with DBE 4 or lower can be explained by the aforementioned thermal degradation reaction.…”

“…These compounds most probably correspond to alkenes produced by thermal cracking of alkyl side chains [87] as well as building blocks containing naphthenic structural elements [25,32,55]. Wyoming whole asphaltenes revealed a lower maximum DBE of 16 and carbon numbers up to 45, with high amounts of non-or low-aromatic CH-class pyrolysis fragments detected.…”