Experiment and modeling of coke formation and catalyst deactivation in n-heptane catalytic cracking over HZSM-5 zeolites

Since paraffins catalytic cracking was of significant importance to light olefins and aromatics production, this work was intended to gain insights into the feature and model of coke formation and catalyst deactivation in n -heptane catalytic cracking over HZSM-5 zeolites. 18 tests of n -heptane catalytic cracking were designed and carried out over HZSM-5 zeolites in a wide range of operating conditions. A particular attention was paid to the measurement of the conversion, product distribution, coke content, and the porosity and acidity of the fresh and spent HZSM-5 zeolites. It was found that alkene and aromatic promoted coke formation, and it reduced the pore volume and acid site of HZSM-5 zeolites, tailoring its performance in n -heptane catalytic cracking. The specific relationship between HZSM-5 zeolites, n -heptane conversion, product distribution and coke formation was quantitively characterized by the exponential and linear function. Based on the reaction network, the coupled scheme of coke formation and catalyst deactivation were specified for n -heptane catalytic cracking. The dual-model was proposed for the process simulation of n -heptane catalytic cracking over HZSM-5 zeolites. It predicted not only the conversion and product distribution but also coke content with the acceptable errors.