A fluidized catalytic cracking catalyst and a process for the preparation thereof

Abstract: A process for preparation of fluidized catalytic cracking (FCC) catalyst, comprising silicon stabilized large crystallite sized synthetic faujasite zeolite, aluminum depleted and normal kaolin clay, alumina and silica. The cracking catalyst is highly active and selective for bottom upgradation, it produces less coke and higher gasoline and total cycle oil. (TCO) and possesses improved metal tolerance properties when evaluated and compared with a commercial catalyst under conditions of a typical FCC unit in a petroleum refinery.

Description: Field of the invention The present invention relates to a process for the preparation of a catalyst for hydrocarbon conversion and particularly the fluidized catalytic cracking of high vacuum gas oil feedstocks. Background of the invention FCC is a major secondary refining process and the FCC catalyst used in such a process provides considerable flexibility to refiners to meet the required product slates. To improve the efficiency of this process it is desired to upgrade the bottom products (boiling above 370 °C) to more valuable lighter products and less coke (due to regenerator hardware limitations). In this endeavor, not much emphasis is given in the prior art processes of FCC catalyst development. Preparation of FCC catalyst is generally accomplished by admixing Y type zeolite, normal, kaolin clay and suitable binders to produce a slurry. The aqueous slurry is then subjected to agitation for uniform dispersion of individual components and spray dried to form dry catalyst microspheres. Typical prior art catalyst preparation procedure involves use of sodium silicate as silica source, aluminium sulfate, Y type zeolite, kaolin clay and suitable acid to convert sodium silicate to silica sol binder. However, such a process involves repeated washing off of sodium sulfate by product and subsequent exchange of sodium of the zeolite. This process is time consuming, hardware intensive and requires considerable quantities of demineralised (DM) Water and there is a need for effluent treatment facility. US Patent 4,142,995 mentions use of silica-alumina gel in catalyst formulation for improving catalyst activity and attrition resistance. However, this process has not addressed the issue of selectivity improvements like reduction of bottom and coke and enhancement of TCO and gasoline yields. It is known that preparation of silica-alumina gel is time consuming and requires several washings. From an efficiency and economy point of view it is generally preferred to use ingredients with low soda content i.e., binder, zeolite, matrix etc. to avoid series of washing steps. US Patent 4,443,553 teaches preparation of FCC catalyst using soda free raw materials, wherein aluminum hydroxy chloride is used as viscosity reducing agent. The process suffers from the disadvantage that chlorine evolved during the preparation procedure is corrosive and poses problems for the hardware and environment as well. Performance of the catalyst is not part of claims of the said patent. In addition to the above, presence of chlorine is likely to interfere with the efficiency of catalytic cracking. US Patent 4,086,187 describes use of ammonium polysilicate and alumina to provide catalyst with improved attrition resistance and pore volume. However the catalyst has not been subjected to detailed performance testing. While the prior art describes different methods of formulating cracking catalyst often requiring high investments, catalysts are not able to meet the desired product requirements. Thus, there is a requirement for a catalyst which provides not only an acceptable degree of physical properties and activity but also the most desirable selectivity like enhanced gasoline and TCO yields while reducing undesirable bottom and coke products. Development of bottom and coke selective catalyst becomes more relevant for low severity FCC unit operations prevalent in many countries like India. Prior art processes demonstrate the performance of the steamed catalyst by means of ASTM Micro Activity Test (MAT), where the feed injection time is very large leading to highly non-isothermal reaction conditions. The feed used is different than that used in commercial FCC units and only a particular catalyst to oil ratio is employed. The product selectivity depends on these parameters and ASTM MAT is not suitable for predicting performance of the catalyst in a commercial FCC unit. To overcome this difficulty and to correctly predict catalyst performance in a commercial FCC unit, in the present invention a commercial high vacuum gas oil feedstock is used to evaluate the catalyst at different catalyst to oil ratios at contact times much lower than the conventional ASTM MAT conditions. Objects of the present invention An object of the present invention is to propose a process for the preparation of a novel FCC catalyst useful for the conversion of petroleum hydrocarbons. Another object of this invention is to propose a method for preparation of silica stabilized large crystallite sized synthetic faujasite zeolite suitable for incorporation in FCC catalyst formulation. Yet another object is to propose a method for preparing aluminum depleted kaolin clay which could be incorporated in the FCC catalyst formulation. A further object of this invention is to propose a simple catalyst preparation process which does not demand any washing and exchange steps. A still further object of this invention is to propose a process far preparing FCC catalyst having higher activity and properties to reduce coke and bottom yields. Yet a further object is to propose a process for preparing FCC catalyst for improving gasoline and TCO yields. DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION According to this invention there is provided a process for the preparation of FCC catalyst comprising in the steps of preparing an aqueous alumina binder by peptising pseudoboehmite alumina with formic acid and mixing with ammonium polysilicate, aluminum depleted and normal kaolin clays and silica stabilized rare earth exchanged zeolite to obtain a slurry, subjecting said slurry to a step of thorough mixing and spray drying to obtain microspheroidal particles, and then subjecting the particles to a step of calcination. The process for the preparation of aluminum depleted kaolin clay comprises in the steps of mixing calcined kaolin clay with an acid such as hydrochloric acid at temperatures from ambient to 90°C and subjecting the mixture to a step of aging for a period of 4-60 hours. The surface area of the said aluminium depleted kaolin clay will typically range from 60-140 m 2 /g, with prefered surface area of 80-120 m 2 /g. The acid does not exclude use of other acids such as nitric acid, sulfuric acid, phosphoric acid, formic acid etc. The zeolite component present in the catalyst composite is in the range of 5-35 wt%, a preferred range being from 15-30 wt%. The aluminum depleted kaolin clay is present in the range of 5-50 wt% preferred range being 15-45%. The binder comprises alumina and present in the range of 10-40 wt %, a preferred range being 20-30 wt %. Kaolin clay is present in the range of 0-60 wt%, the preferred range being 0-45 wt%. The residual soda level in the finished catalyst is in the range of 0.2-0.7 wt%, preferred range being 0.3-0.5 wt%. The rare earth oxide content in the catalyst is in the range of 0.5-2 wt%, the preferred range being 0.8-1.2 wt%. The rare earth metal salts employed can either be the salt of a single rare earth metal or mixture of rare earth metals, such as chlorides consisting essentially of lanthanum, cerium, neodymium with minor amounts of samarium, gadolinium and yttrium. Various factors contribute to provide a reduction in coke and bottom yields and improving gasoline and TCO yields. One such factor is that of the zeolite. In accordance with this invention, the zeolite employed in the catalyst is prepared from Na Y having a silica content of 78 to 83 wt% and subjected to an ammonium exchange treatment with an ammonium solution, such as ammonium sulfate, to obtain Na NH 4 Y having a soda level of 1 to 3% by weight of zeolite. Such a Na NH 4 Y zeolite is then treated with ammonium hexafluoro silicate in presence of ammonium acetate to obtain silica enriched Na NH 4 Y, which is then dispersed in a rare earth solution to obtain silica enriched Na NH 4 REY having a silica content of 84 to 90 wt%. Another aspect of the present invention resides in the aluminium depleted kaolin clay employed in the catalyst. The aluminium depleted kaolin clay should have a surface area of 85 to 125 m 2 /g and average pore diameter of 80 to 120 A'. It has been found that such a surface area and average pore size helps in reduction of bottom. The aluminium depleted kaolin used in the catalyst of the present invention is treated at room termperature in comparison to elevated temperatures used in the prior art. Such a treatment at room temperatures provides a controlled and uniform pore size in comparison to that obtained by a treatment at elevated temperatures. The invention is further illustrated by the following specific but non limiting examples. Example 1 This example illustrates the process for preparation of ammonium rare earth exchange Y zeolite. Hydrothermally stable, large crystallite sized NaY zeolite was taken as the starting zeolite. 0.4kg (400gms) of this zeolite having surface area 772 m 2 /g, crystallite size 1800 °A, crystallinity 102%, unit cell size (UCS) 24.65°A was exchanged with 5% ammonium sulfate solution, maintaining solid: liquid ratio 1:10, temperature 90°C, for 45 minutes. The exchange step was repeated 4 more times each time with freshly prepared ammonium sulfate solution. The exchanged zeolite was filtered and adequately washed to remove sulfate ions and dried at 110°C for 16 hours. The ammonium Y zeolite thus obtained had residual soda of 1.6 wt%. The zeolite had crystallinity of 101%, UCS 24.69°A and crystallite size 1800°A. The zeolite after oven drying at 110°C for 16 hours was further exchanged three times with freshly prepared 5 wt% ammonium sulfate solution. The residual soda in the zeolite was 1.2 wt.%. It was then dispersed in 1 wt% rare earth chloride solution, maintaining solid-liquid ratio of 1:10 at a temperature of 60°C. After exchanging for 20 minutes, zeolite was washed to free from chloride ions and dried at 110°C for 16 hours to obtain rare earth exchanged ammonium Y zeolite. EXAMPLE 2 This example illustrates the process for preparation of silica enriched rare earth exchanged Y zeolite. 0.300 kg (300gm) of ammonium Y zeolite preparaed as per the process of example 1 with residual soda of 1.6 wt%, was dispersed in 25 wt% ammonium acetate solution and kept under agitation, maintaining a temperature of 92°C. A solution prepared by dissolving 0.082kg (82gm) of ammonium hexafluoro silicate crystals dissolved in 0.75kg (750gm) of DM water was added to the above prepared ammonium Y-ammonium acetate slurry at the rate 1.5-2 ml/min. The addition was completed in 7 hours. The zeolite thus produced was silica stabilised. It was filtered, washed four times with hot DM water and dispersed in 1% rare earth chloride and rare earth was loaded with procedure similar in that explained in example 1. The silica stabilised rare earth exchanged zeolite had crystallinity 95%, UCS 24.55'A, surface area 670 m 2 /g and rare earth oxide content 4 wt%. EXAMPLE 3 This example describes the process for preparation of aluminum depleted kaolin clay from calcined kaolin clay (BCK grade, M/S English India, Trivandrum, India), suitable for incorporation in FCC catalyst formulation. 0.068kg(68gm) hydrochloric acid (37% consentration, LR grade, SD Fine Chemicals, India) was diluted with 0.15kg (150gm) of DM water. To this dilute acid was added 0.05kg (50gm) calcined (at 900°C for one hour) normal kaolin clay having particle size more than 80% in the range of 0.3-0.8 microns, and the mixture was kept under stirring under controlled conditions. This treatment of clay treated with acid was continued for 40 hours at room temperature. At the end, the aluminum depleted kaolin clay was recovered by filtration, washed repeatedly with DM water till free from chloride and dried at 110°C for 16 hours. The modified kaolin clay thus produced is ready for use in FCC catalyst formulation and is characterised by the following properties. Surface area, m 2 /g 96 Average pore diameter,°A 90 Loss on ignition 900°C/1 hour,wt% 8.5 EXAMPLE 4 This example describes the process for preparation of FCC catalyst using rare earth exchanged ammonium Y zeolite prepared as per example 1, ammonium polysilicate (M/S Bee Chems, Kanpur, India), pseudoboehmite alumina (Disperal S, M/S Condea Chemie, Germany) and kaolin clay. A slurry with pH of 3.5 and solid content 28 wt%, having the following composition was prepared: zeolite 25 wt%, alumina 30 wt%, kaolin clay 40 wt% and silica 5 wt.%. 0.214 kg (214 gm) of pseudoboehmite alumina (30 wt% moisture) was peptised with 0.0172kg (17.25gm) of formid acid (85% concentration, LR grade, SD Fine Chemicals, India). To the peptised alumina 0.156 kg (156.3gm) of ammonium polysilicate (16% SiO 2 ) and 0.253kg (253gm) of kaolin clay (15% moisture) were added. Adequate quantity of water was added to maintain the required solid concentration. 0.166kg (166.5gm) rare earth exchanged ammonium Y zeolite (25% volatile material), made into a fine paste by milling with 0.17kg (170gm) DM water was added to the mixture. The final slurry was milled thoroughly and spray dried at inlet temperature of 330°C, outlet temperature of 140°C with feed rate of 0.100 kg/minute (100gm/minute). The spray dried microspheres were calcined at 500°C for one hour to obtain final FCC catalyst. The catalyst was subjected to hydrothermal deactivation at 788°C for 3 hours with 100% steam. Using Indian Oil's (IOC) standard feed with properties shown in table 1, micro activity test (MAT) was conducted under ASTM conditions. The test results are given in table 2. Here 216- conversion is defined as yield weight percent fraction boiling below 216°C. Properties of IOC standard MAT feed Wt% BP°C IBP 315 5 327 10 334 20 346 30 356 40 365 50 375 60 386 70 399 80 415 90 440 95 463 FBP 528 Pour Point°C 36 Density at 15°C (g/ml) 0.8677 CCR (wt%) 0.008 RCR (wt%) 0.04 ASTM MAT test results Component (wt%) Example 4 Example 5 216-conversion 54.76 69.80 Hydrogen 0.014 0.02 Dry gas 0.37 0.76 LPG 15.92 19.75 Gasoline 28.34 34.85 Heavy Naphtha 8.50 12.26 LCO 31.26 24.52 TCO 39.76 36.78 Bottom, (370 + ) 14.00 5.68 Coke 1.62 2.16 EXAMPLE 5 This example illustrates a process of preparing FCC catalyst as per example 4 with the exception that, in place of rare earthed exchanged ammonium Y zeolite, silica stabilized rare earth exchanged Y zeolite prepared under example 2 is used. The catalyst was calcined and steam deactivated and tested for ASTM MAT activity under conditions similar to those of example 4. The ASTM MAT test results are given in table 2, where the results are compared with catalyst of example 4. Example 5 catalyst shows higher activity, which is due to latter containing hydrothermally more stable silica stabilised zeolite. Further the catalyst of example 5 was subjected to microactivity test at different catalyst to oil ratios (W/F) using a commercial FCCU feedstock, with properties as shown in table 3. The results are given in table 4. Properties of commercial FCCU feedstock. Wt% BP°C IBP 310 5 368 10 392 20 410 30 421 40 451 50 462 60 470 70 475 80 477 90 503 95 532 FBP 548 Density, at 15°C(g/ml) 0.927 RCR (wt%) 0.353 Paraffins (wt%) 43.94 Naphthenes (wt%) 16.66 Aromatics (wt%) 39.40 Nitrogen ppm Basic 437 Total 1207 EXAMPLE 6 This example illustrates a method for preparation of fluid cracking catalyst as per the process of this invention, using silica stabilized rare earth exchanged Y zeolite, aluminum depleted kaolin clay, prepared as per the process of example 3, normal kaolin clay, pseudoboehmite alumina and ammonium polysilicate. A slurry with final pH 3.4 and solid content 28% having the following composition ( in wt% ) was prepared zeolite (25), alumina (30), aluminum depleted kaolin clay (20) normal kaolin clay (20), and silica (5), 0.214kg (214.3gm) of alumina was peptized with 0.017kg (17.25gm) of formic acid. To the peptized pseudoboehmite alumina 0.156kg (156.3gm) of ammonium polysilicate and 0.017kg (17.65gm) normal kaolin clay were added, followed by addition of 0.109kg (109.9gm) of aluminum depleted kaolin clay in 0.1kg (100gm) of DM water. 0.14kg (140.5gm) of silica stabilized rare earth exchanged Y zeolite in 0.2kg (200gm) DM water was ground into fine paste and added to the normal kaolin clay-alumina slurry. The final slurry was spray dried. The microspheres were calcined and steam deactivated under conditions similar to those of example 4. The catalyst was then subjected to microactivity test at different catalyst to oil ratios (W/F). The results are shown in table 4(c) and compared with those of commercial catalyst 'A' (table 4a) and catalyst made as per example 5 (table 4b). It is seen from the data that catalyst made as per the process of our invention in example 6, is highly selective for improved bottom upgradation, it produces less coke and higher gasoline and TCO yields at comparable reaction parameters. MAT data of different catalysts (a) Catalyst: commercial catalyet A W/F,Min 0.450 0.550 0.673 0.885 Yields in wt% 216-(conversion) 35.93 42.27 50.76 56.10 H 2 0.015 0.027 0.031 0.037 Dry Gas 0.48 0.57 0.78 0.87 LPG 7.27 9.15 11.04 12.85 Gasoline 17.74 20.94 25.67 29.02 Heavy Naphtha 9.29 10.30 11.48 11.20 Light Cycle Oil 26.91 26.81 26.80 25.15 Total Cycle Oil 36.20 37.11 38.28 36.35 Bottom (370+) 37.18 30.92 22.44 18.74 Coke 1.11 1.28 1.76 2.13 (b) Catalyst: example 5 W/F,Min 0.419 0.558 0.688 Conversion, wt% Yields in wt%216- 35.64 41.32 49.08 H 2 0.017 0.021 0.027 Dry Gas 0.60 0.65 0.77 LPG 6.51 7.74 9.40 Gasoline 17.73 20.87 24.86 Heavy Naphtha 9.46 10.51 12.10 Light Cycle Oil 29.34 29.35 29.77 Total Cycle Oil 38.80 39.86 41.87 Bottom (370+) 35.04 29.32 21.15 Coke 1.32 1.53 1.92 (c) Catalyst : example 6 W/F,Min 0.446 0.558 0.693 0.873 Yields, wt% 216-(conversion) 37.65 45.05 51.86 58.32 H 2 0.019 0.021 0.024 0.028 Dry Gas 0.52 0.61 0.73 0.84 LPG 6.87 8.56 10.00 11.33 Gasoline 18.58 22.83 27.27 30.89 Heavy Naphtha 10.50 11.64 12.16 13.21 Light Cycle Oil 30.43 29.49 29.80 27.84 Total Cycle Oil 40.93 41.13 41.96 41.05 Bottom (370+) 31.91 25.44 18.34 13.82 Coke 1.16 1.39 1.68 2.02 W/F = Weight of catalyst in kg(gm)/feed injected in kg(gm)/min Example 7 This example demonstrates metal resistance property of catalyst prepared as per the process of this invention. The catalyst prepared as per example 6 and the commercial catalyst 'A' were doped with 2000 PPM Vanadium and 1500 PPM Nickel. The samples were calcined at 500°C prior to metal doping. Metal doped catalysts were steam deactivated at 788°C / 3 hr, 100% steam and evaluated under ASTM MAT conditions. The performance data of these two catalysts are given in table 5. The data shows that the catalyst of example 6 prepared as per the process of our invention has improved metal resistance properties as seen from reduced drop in conversion.

Claims: A fluidized catalytic cracking (FCC) catalyst comprising 5 to 35 by wt% of silica enriched NaH 4 REY zeolite having a silica content of 84-90 wt%, 5 to 50 wt% of aluminum depleted kaolin clay, 10 to 40 wt% of alumina, 0 to 60 wt% of normal kaolin clay, a rare earth oxide content of 0.5 to 2 wt%, a residual soda level of 0.2-0.7 wt% the aluminium depleted kaolin clay having a surface area of 80 to 120 m 2 /g and average pore diameter of 80 to 120 A°. A FCC catalyst as claimed in claim 1 comprising 15 to 30 wt% of said silica enriched NaNH 4 REY zeolite having a silica content of 84-90 wt%, 15 to 45 wt% of said aluminum depleted kaolin clay, 20 to 30 wt% of alumina, 0 to 45 wt% of normal kaolin clay, 0.8 to 1.2 wt% of a rare earth oxide. A process for preparing the FCC catalyst according to claim 1 or 2 comprising the steps of preparing an aqueous alumina binder by peptising pseudoboehmite alumina with formic acid and mixing with ammonium polysilicate, aluminium depleted and normal kaolin clays and silica stabilised rare earth exchanged zeolite to obtain a slurry, subjecting said slurry to a step of thorough mixing and spray drying to obtain microspheroidal particles and then subjecting the particles to a step of calcination. A process as claimed in claim 3 wherein the silica enriched rare earth exchanged zeolite is prepared by subjecting NaY having a silica content of 78-83 wt% to an ammonium exchange treatment to obtain NaNH 4 Y having a soda level of 1 to 3% by wt, treating NaNH 4 Y with ammonium hexafluoro silicate and ammonium acetate and subsequent exchange with rare earth solution to obtain silica enriched NaNH 4 REY zeolite having a silica content of 84-90 wt%. A process as claimed in claim 3 wherein the zeolite is exchanged with rare earth chloride solution to obtain 1.0-5.7 wt% of rare earth oxide. A process as claimed in claim 3 wherein aluminum depleted kaolin clay is prepared by acid treatment of calcined normal kaolin clay at temperature from ambient to 90°C for a period 4-60 hours. A process as claimed in claim 3 wherein the content of the aluminum depleted kaolin clay is between 5 to 50 wt% and normal clay is between 0 to 60 wt%. A process as claimed in claim 3 wherein the weight percentage of the zeolite in the final catalyst composite material is in the range of 5 to 35 wt%.

Inventors: DIXIT JAGDEV KUMAR, GHOSH SOBHAN, KRISHNAN VENTACHALAM, KUVETTU MOHAN PRABHU, MAKHIJA SATISH, RAY SANJAY KUMAR, SANTRA MANORANJAN, THAKUR RAM MOHAN, DIXIT, JAGDEV KUMAR, GHOSH, SOBHAN, KRISHNAN, VENTACHALAM, KUVETTU, MOHAN PRABHU, MAKHIJA, SATISH, RAY, SANJAY KUMAR, SANTRA, MANORANJAN, THAKUR, RAM MOHAN
Applicants: INDIAN OIL CORP LTD, INDIAN OIL CORPORATION LTD.
Application year: 1998
Main classification: C10G11
IPC codes: B01J29, C10G11