Cobalt- and Nickel-Containing Catalysts for Heavy Crude Oil Upgrading: Effect of Ethanol on the Composition and Structure of Catalytic Cracking Products

Products from the thermal conversion of heavy crude oil in the presence of Ni- and Co-containing catalysts formed in situ from a mixture of appropriate salts with ethanol have been studied. In the catalytic process, the light fraction yield increases from 51 to 63% and the coke yield decreases from 3 to 2 wt % compared with the respective parameters of thermal cracking. In the case of a mixed Ni+Co catalyst, the lowest yields of gas (5 wt %) and coke (0.1 wt %) are observed. The decrease in sulfur content in both the thermal cracking (by 17%) and catalytic cracking products (by 12–32 rel %) occurs primarily due to the removal of sulfur in the form of gaseous products. The structural group characteristics of average asphaltene molecules before and after heavy crude oil cracking have been studied. Using X-ray diffraction analysis, Ni0.96S, Ni9S8, and Co9S8 phases have been identified in the solid cracking products.