Abstract
Fluid catalytic cracking (FCC) spent catalysts are the most common catalysts produced by the petroleum refining industry in China. The National Hazardous Waste List (2016 edition) lists FCC spent catalysts as hazardous waste, but this listing is very controversial in the petroleum refining industry. This study collects samples of waste catalysts from seven domestic catalytic cracking units without antimony-based passivation agents and identifies their hazardous characteristics. FCC spent catalysts do not have the characteristics of flammability, corrosiveness, reactivity, or infectivity. Based on our analysis of the components and production process of the FCC spent catalysts, we focused on the hazardous characteristic of toxicity. Our results show that the leaching toxicity of the heavy metal pollutants nickel, copper, lead, and zinc in the FCC spent catalyst samples did not exceed the hazardous waste identification standards. Assuming that the standards for antimony and vanadium leachate are 100 times higher than that of the surface water and groundwater environmental quality standards, the leaching concentration of antimony and vanadium in the FCC spent catalyst of the G set of installations exceeds the standard, which may affect the environmental quality of surface water or groundwater. The quantities of toxic substances in all spent FCC catalysts, except those from G2, does not exceed the standard. The acute toxicity of FCC spent catalysts in all installations does not exceed the standard. Therefore, we exclude “waste catalysts from catalytic cracking units without antimony-based passivating agent passivation nickel agent” from the “National Hazardous Waste List.”
Highlights
Introduction iationsFluid catalytic cracking (FCC) is one of the major secondary operations for refining crude oil
In order to facilitate the management of FCC spent catalysts, this study investigates the hazardous characteristics of spent catalysts produced in catalytic cracking units without antimony-based passive nickel agent in the production process
This research focuses on the leaching toxicity, toxic substance content, and acute toxicity hazard characteristics of spent FCC catalysts
Summary
Fluid catalytic cracking (FCC) is one of the major secondary operations for refining crude oil. FCC catalysts are widely used in the conversion of heavy feedstocks into lighter, more valuable products such as liquefied petroleum gases (LPG), cracked naphtha, and diesel oil [1,2,3]. As domestic raw materials become increasingly heavy and inferior, the amount of FCC spent catalysts produced by heavy metal deposition, wear, and hydrothermal deactivation is rising [6,7]. FCC spent catalysts make up the largest number of spent catalysts produced in the domestic petroleum refining industry, accounting for about 70% of the total annual spent catalyst production [8]. In 2016, “Spent Catalysts for Catalytic Cracking of Petroleum
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