Selective Petroleum Refining Over a Zeolite Catalyst with Small Intracrystal Mesopores

Cracking good cracking: Mesoporous ZSM-5 zeolite catalysts (see TEM image) made by soft templating methods show higher gas–oil cracking activity and greatly enhanced product selectivity than conventional ZSM-5. The cracking of large hydrocarbons to gasoline and diesel fuel occurs in intracrystal mesopores, while the conversion of smaller molecules into feedstock olefins occurs in framework micropores.