CATALYTIC CRACKING OF NAPHTHENES AND NAPHTHENO-AROMATICS IN FIXED-BED MICRO REACTORS

The product distributions from catalytic cracking of decalin and tetralin over an USY-zeolite catalyst (LZ-Y82) in a fixed bed pulse and a standard micro activity test (MAT) reactor, have been analysed in detail by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry techniques. The product compositions from the pulse reactor and the MAT-reactor generally showed strong similarities. The main reaction routes have been outlined. For decalin, endocyclic bond cleavage was faster than dehydrogenation to tetralin and naphthalene. Several naphtheno-olefinic and mono-naphthenic compounds were observed, and the possible reaction routes for the formation and further reaction of some of these compounds have been discussed. For tetralin, alkylation of both the aromatic and the naphthenic ring has been established from the mass spectrometric identification of structural isomeric compounds. © 1990.