Effect of the operating conditions in the hydrocracking of pyrolysis gasoline over Pt/acidic support catalyst

The high octane number of the pyrolysis gasoline (PyGas), a subproduct obtained in the steam cracking unit, makes it very appropriate for its addition to the gasoline pool. However, strict restrictions in fuel composition imposed by environmental legislations prevent the use of PyGas as gasoline blending due to the high aromatic content of this stream. The aromatic ring opening over bifunctional catalysts, coupled hydrogenation and subsequent ring scission, appears to be the most interesting upgrading route for this stream. Experiments carried out in a fixed bed reactor revealed the importance of the hydrogen partial pressure in the deactivation of the process. Although the total conversion was not achieved due to the initial deactivation of Pt by the sulfur, it the catalyst showed an increase in conversion with increasing temperature. A 100% conversion was reached with an increase in space time or hydrogen partial pressure. The hydrogenation of aromatics coexisted with the ring scission of the generated cycloalkanes. This is an abstract of a paper presented at the 18th International Congress of Chemical and Process Engineering (Prague, Czech Republic 8/24-28/2008).