Laurent Georges Huve

Chapter 24 – Zeolites in Hydrocarbon Processing

This chapter discusses the use of zeolites as catalyst components in oil refining and large gas-to-liquids (GTL) conversion. Applications of zeolites, in refining, has not only given rise to, and fed on a large body of applied research, but has also been an important stimulus to fundamental research involving microporous and mesoporous materials in many disciplines, providing a small but fine example of positive feedback between application and science. Study of industrially relevant problems has thus revealed unimagined complexity in zeolite-catalysed systems, and yet in some cases, allowed their understanding to a level of detail—though often still unsatisfactory—that is rare in the field of heterogeneous catalysis. Long-term trends in refining, some long-standing, some more recently established, are a growing demand for products across the board, a so-called whitening of the hydrocarbon demand, and an increasing need for the processing of increasingly heavy crudes. The chapter discusses the process of fluid catalytic cracking (FCC), a core process in many refineries and produces light alkenes, high-octane gasoline, and aromatic middle distillates from vacuum gas oil and often from residue.