Influence of a Precursor Catalyst on the Composition of Products in Catalytic Cracking of Heavy Oil

Heavy oils are characterized by a high content of resins and asphaltenes, which complicates refining and leads to an increase in the cost of refinery products. These components can be strongly adsorbed on the acid sites of a supported catalyst, leading to its deactivation. Currently, various salts of group 8 metals are being considered for such processes to act as catalysts during oil cracking. At the same time, the nature of the precursor often has a significant impact on the process of refining heavy oil. In this work, catalytic cracking of heavy oil from the Ashalchinskoye field using different precursors (nanodispersed catalysts formed in situ based on NiO) has been studied. The cracking was carried out at 450 °C with a catalyst content from 0.1 to 0.5 wt.%. The catalytic cracking products were analyzed via SARA, GC, XRD and SEM. Nickel acetate and nitrate promote similar yields of by-products, while formate promotes higher yields of gaseous products. Formate and nickel acetate were shown to produce 1.8 and 2.8 wt.% more light fractions than nickel nitrate. When heavy oil is cracked in the presence of Ni(NO3)2∙6H2O, the maximum decrease in sulfur content (2.12 wt.%) is observed compared to other precursors. It has been found that the composition and morphology of the resulting nickel sulfides and compaction products are influenced by the nature of the catalyst precursor. XRD and SEM analyses of coke-containing catalysts indicate the formation of Ni9S8 and Ni0.96S phases during cracking when nickel nitrate is used and the formation of NiS and Ni9S8 when nickel acetate and formate are used.