The influence of pressure on the composition of products from the catalytic conversion of n-hexane

At present, the most common industrial method for producing high-quality gasoline, characterized by high octane numbers and moderate aromatic hydrocarbon content, particularly benzene, is catalytic reforming. In the current trend of oil refining industry development, a promising method for improving straight-run motor fuels is co-processing, where the combination of the most optimal parameters allows for the production of high-octane gasolines with the best performance and environmental characteristics. This work studies the effect of pressure the conversion of n-hexane in a catalytic system in the range of 3 to 7 atm on the yield and composition of products. The process was conducted at a temperature of 450 °C in an inert atmosphere. A high molecular weight zeolite, ZSM-5, has been used as the support. n-Hexane has been used as the feedstock to study the activity of the new catalytic system. This feedstock has been chosen due to its ability to undergo aromatization reactions and its presence in the feed for producing motor fuels–co-processing. The obtained hydrocarbon gas contains carbon chain lengths from C 1 to C5. This study has determined that increasing the pressure on the used catalyst leads to an increase in the octane number from 95.4 to 100.3 by the research method and from 87.1 to 94.5 by the motor method, due to an increase in the composition of aromatic hydrocarbons and isomerized paraffin hydrocarbons in the produced catalyst. The highest octane number is achieved at a pressure of 7 atm.