Gas-liquid chromatographic determination of the gaseous products of the two-stage pyrolysis of heavy oils

Abstract

The two-stage pyrolysis of fuel oil and vacuum residues separated from Egyptian crude oil have been carried out using a batch-type reactor technique. In the first stage, feedstocks undergo catalytic cracking in the presence of platinum as a catalyst at temperatures ranging between 380 and 460 °C and 440 and 520 °C for fuel oil and vacuum residues, respectively. Products are carried by argon gas for subsequent pyrolysis in the second stage at temperatures ranging between 700 and 820 °C and 700 and 800 °C for fuel oil and vacuum residues, respectively. The gas yields are about 94.1 and 82.0 wt% of the total products. The gases comprise saturated (C 1-C 5) and unsaturated hydrocarbons (ethylene, propylene, and butenes). By using platinum wire in the pyrolysis of fuel oil, the ethylene yield increases slightly as the temperature of the first stage increases, while it remains almost unchanged in the pyrolysis of vacuum residue. On the other hand, the propylene yield decreases slightly as the temperature of the first stage increases in the two feedstocks. By using a platinum sheet, the ethylene yield is doubled under the same conditions and increases slightly with an increase of temperature in the second stage. On the other hand, the propylene yield varies inversely with the temperature of the second stage by using platinum, whether as wire or sheet, although the yield is higher when platinum sheet is used under the same conditions.