Kinetic modelling of 1, 3, 5‐triisopropylbenzene catalytic cracking using a CREC Riser Simulator emulating FCC operation: The C/O ratio effect

The present study establishes the suitability of a kinetic model for the catalytic cracking of 1, 3, 5‐triisopropylbenze (TIPB) using the data obtained in the Chemical Reactor Engineering Centre (CREC) Riser Simulator. The postulated kinetic model accounts for both the TIPB and the various major products formed experimentally, such as: 1, 3‐diisopropylbenzene, isopropylbenzene, benzene, propylene, and coke. It is proven that the proposed kinetics is suitable to describe the chemical concentration changes in a CREC Riser Simulator at various reaction times, partial pressures, temperatures, and C/O (catalyst/feedstock) ratios. It is demonstrated that the proposed kinetics simulates well the experimental data from the CREC Riser Simulator, including an experimentally observed C/O optimum ratio. It is anticipated that this type of kinetic model, accounting for intrinsic kinetics, coke deactivation, and diffusional phenomena, could have significant value in establishing the influence of catalyst solid fluxes, at set hydrocarbon feed fluxes, in both industrial riser and downer fluid catalytic cracking (FCC) units.