Heavy Naphtha Reforming Reactions with Tri-metallic Catalysts, Experimental and Analytical Investigation

Abstract

In present work experimental and theoretical studies (A comprehensivemathematical model and simulation was developed to describe the reactionkinetics in catalytic reforming process) have been carried out on tri-metal supported on Al2O3 catalysts using catalytic reforming process. The Iraqi heavy naphtha is used as a feedstock for the process. The dehydrogenation, dehydrocyclization, and hydrocracking reaction were investigated to characterize the catalysts performance toward higher activity and selectivity to desired products. The performance of catalysts was studied under the following operating condition: weight hour space velocity in the range of (1-2 hr-1),reaction temperature in the range of (480-510 °C). The results showed that the conversion of heavy naphtha components (Paraffin’s and Naphthenes) increases with increasing of reaction temperature and decreases with increasing of weight hour space velocity. Also, it was noted that the yield of aromatics and light component increases for the two types of catalysts at the same condition. The concentration, conversion, and temperature profiles have been studied of andthe results show a good agreement between experimental and simulation model with a deviation ranging between 4. 18% to 19.50%.