ABSTRACT
Catalytic cracking of petroleum to produce gasoline began in about 1912. Modern fluid catalytic cracking (FCC) was conceived at Exxon and commercially developed in about 1940 using amorphous catalysts. The catalytic aspects of contemporary FCC processes have been reviewed by P. B Venuto and E. T. Habib, B. C. Gates, J. R. Katzer, and G. C. A. Schuit, Magee and Blazek, and Magee. FCC catalyst compositions have been described in detail in various patents and have been reviewed by J. S. Magee and J. J. Blazek. Residual oil is typically composed of very large molecules, a fraction of which boil above about 500°C. Comparison of cracking rates of n-hexadecane and a series of naphthenes of progressively larger ring structure over amorphous silica-alumina and zeolitic catalyst. Typically, FCC catalysts are not diffusion limited for vapor-phase gas oil cracking because of the small size of the catalyst particle. However, in residual oil cracking the situation is not so clear.
