Co-Pyrolysis of Unsaturated C4 and Saturated C6+ Hydrocarbons—An Experimental Study to Evaluate Steam-Cracking Performance

Abstract

Unsaturated C4 hydrocarbons are abundant in various petrochemical streams. They can be considered as a potential feedstock for the steam-cracking process, where they must be co-processed with C6 and higher (C6+) hydrocarbons of primary naphtha fractions. Co-pyrolysis experiments aiming at the comparison of different C4 hydrocarbon performances were carried out in a laboratory micro-pyrolysis reactor under standardized conditions: 820 °C, 400 kPa, and 0.2 s residence time in the reaction zone. C4 hydrocarbons were co-pyrolyzed with different co-pyrolysis partners containing longer hydrocarbon chain to study the influence of the co-pyrolysis partner structure on the behavior of C4 hydrocarbons. The yields of the pyrolysis products and the conversion of C4 hydrocarbons were used as the performance factors. A regression model was developed and used as a valuable tool for quantifying the inhibition or acceleration effect of co-pyrolysis on the conversion of co-pyrolyzed hydrocarbons. It was found that the performance of different C4 hydrocarbons in co-pyrolysis is substantially different from the separate pyrolysis of the individual components.

Rational Design of Ultrasmall PtZn Nanoparticles Supported on Zeolite Composites as Bifunctional Catalysts for n-Butane Dehydroisomerization

“…The production of isobutene has been obtained via the side reactions of steam cracking or fluid catalytic cracking in the petrochemical industry over the past decades. 1 However, the disadvantages of these processes are the low isobutene yield and the abundant greenhouse gas emission. 2 To circumvent these issues, n-butane dehydroisomerization has been investigated as the alternative catalytic reaction to produce isobutene since it produces high isobutene selectivity in the simultaneous presence of hydrogen gas as the byproduct.…”

“…The production of isobutene has been obtained via the side reactions of steam cracking or fluid catalytic cracking in the petrochemical industry over the past decades . However, the disadvantages of these processes are the low isobutene yield and the abundant greenhouse gas emission .…”