Assessment of γ-AL2O3 Prepared from Local Clay as an Effective Catalyst for Thermal Cracking of Atmospheric Residue: Optimizations of Variables and Analysis of the Upgraded Liquid Oil

This research aims to synthesis of γ-Al₂O₃ catalyst from a local clay and studying the effect of calcination time and calcination temperature on the surface area of gamma alumina, to be employed as a catalyst in the thermal cracking of the atmospheric residue (ATR) taken from a local refinery in Mosul city, North of Iraq.  The XRD, BET surface area and pore size, FESEM, and EDX for the resulting γ-Al₂O₃ were diagnosed. Using a 2.0 wt.% of γ-Al₂O₃ catalyst, the optimally upgraded liquid oil was produced at 400 °C for 1h, with an output of 79 % and a 40.55° API gravity. Fundamentally, the resulting liquid fuel was also analyzed using the resulting liquid fuel was also analyzed using Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry and  H-NMR.

The results showed that the fuel consists of aromatics, n-alkanes, olefins, and iso-alkanes. Moreover, it’s gasoline content was 20 vol.%, with an octane-value of 82 In addition, the flash point and the kinematics viscosity of the resulting fuel were low. Eventually, the as-synthesized γ-Al₂O₃ could be recommended as a potential catalyst for the catalytic thermal cracking processes of heavy residue and oils.