Hydrocracking of LVGO Using Dispersed Catalysts Derived from Soluble Precursors: Performance Evaluation and Kinetics

The promotional effects of dual water-soluble and bimetallic oil-soluble precursors for LVGO hydrocracking were investigated. The water-soluble Fe-Mo precursor caused a reduction in naphtha and coke yields, while the bimetallic oil-soluble layered ammonium nickel molybdate (Ni-LTM) catalyst precursor reduced the coke deposition without affecting the naphtha yield. The synergistic effects of Ni-LTM were investigated by employing it as a cocatalyst with a Ni-W/Al2O3-SiO2 catalyst. Ni-LTM significantly decreased the coke deposition on the supported catalyst as noticed by the SEM images. A five-lump discrete reaction scheme was found suitable for the kinetic modeling of LVGO hydrocracking over the cocatalytic system. The estimated kinetic parameters show that LVGO has a higher probability of being converted to naphtha than distillate, which explains the high selectivity of naphtha compared to the other pseudoproducts. The catalyst decay constant decreased with the process severity indicating an enhancement of...