Destructive Conversion of Gas Oil in the Presence of a Nickel-Based Nanosized Catalyst

Abstract

The decomposition of nickel 2-ethylhexanoate by heating in a vacuum gas oil (VGO) medium at 355–365°С has been found to yield nickel and nickel sulfide nanoparticles. The size of the particles is 20–120 nm. The catalytic cracking of VGO in the presence of these nickel-containing particles provides a 70.15% yield of the distillate with a boiling point up to 220°C. The structural-group composition of the products of VGO cracking in the presence of nickel-based nanoscale catalysts has been studied using gas chromatography–mass spectrometry. The group composition of samples containing cracked products has been analyzed to cover eleven classes of organic compounds. The structural composition of the test samples has been considered with respect to eight groups of compounds, of which three include two to three classes of compounds. In the catalytic cracking of VGO, the concentration of alkanes increases by 3.11% and that of alkenes and alkylbenzenes decreases by 1.31 and 2.59%, respectively, as compared to their content in the products of VGO distillation without a catalyst.