ABSTRACT
This chapter describes one possible approach to the problem of cracking catalyst design. The catalytic cracking of petroleum is a complex process involving a chemically diverse feedstock and catalysts that can be designed with a range of size and shape selectivities. The model of cracking chemistry described to this point has been based on model compound reaction data obtained using an amorphous silica-alumina catalyst. The chapter examines the relative sensitivity of the model developed for amorphous catalysts to perturbations in the values of reaction rate constants. In any sensitivity analysis, the measure of sensitivity is a critical issue. Selecting a measure of sensitivity for a model of petroleum cracking is difficult, since the model makes many predictions and each prediction has importance. The chapter shows that group contribution methods can be used to reduce the problem of determining multiple reaction rates of hundreds of compounds to a problem of esimating roughly two dozen group contribution parameters.
