A comprehensive study of product distributions and coke deposition during catalytic cracking of vacuum gas oil over hierarchical zeolites

In this study, zeolites (Z) were used as catalysts in the cracking of a Colombian vacuum gas oil (VGO), with a focus on product distribution and coke deposition. The catalytic tests were carried out in a MAT-type reactor under typical conditions. The zeolites were subjected to alkaline treatment with NaOH at concentrations ranging from 0.05 to 0.4 mol/L, resulting in the creation of several samples (Z-0.05, Z-0.10, Z-0.20, Z-0.30 and Z-0.40) that were then hydrothermally stabilized (Z-0.05-M, Z-0.10-M, Z-0.20-M, Z-0.30-M and Z-0.40-M) to increase mesoporosity and reduced crystallinity. The increase in mesoporosity was accompanied by an improvement in acidity. Despite Z-0.30-M having higher acidity, Z-0.00-M and Z-0.10-M exhibited the highest activity due to their high crystallinity and microporosity, yielding the highest gas yields. Gasoline was the main product, with maximum yields exceeding 30%. Z-0.20-M produced more aromatic and olefin compounds than the others, resulting in higher quality gasoline. Coke formation followed the trend: Z-0.00-M < Z-0.10-M < Z-0.20-M < Z-0.30-M. The higher intracrystalline mesoporosity in the zeolites favored the formation of a more condensed coke.