Catalytic reactions of C4 hydrocarbons on the fluid catalytic cracking catalyst

The catalytic reactions of C4 hydrocarbons on a fluid catalytic cracking (FCC) catalyst were studied in a confined fluidized bed reactor. The effect of reaction temperature and space velocity on product yields and distribution was investigated. The results show that the FCC catalyst has the good performance of aromatization and cracking of C4 hydrocarbons and can be used to produce propylene and aromatics under the suitable reaction conditions. It is mainly the butylene in the C4 hydrocarbons that undergoes catalytic reactions over the FCC catalyst and butane is hard to convert. Low reaction temperature favors the production of aromatics, while high reaction temperature favors the production of propylene. Low space velocity is beneficial to promote the conversion of butylene and the production of both aromatics and propylene. According to the bimolecular mechanism and reaction results, the reaction network for the catalytic reactions of C4 hydrocarbons on the FCC catalyst is proposed. The analysis on the this reaction mechanism indicates that the main reason of resulting in the lower yields of ethylene and propylene could be the poor secondary cracking performances of C5 and C6 olefins formed in the catalytic conversion of C4 hydrocarbons on the FCC catalyst.