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New aspects of the mechanism for the thermal hydrocracking of indan and tetralin
Author(s) -
Penninger Johannes M. L.
Publication year - 1982
Publication title -
international journal of chemical kinetics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.341
H-Index - 68
eISSN - 1097-4601
pISSN - 0538-8066
DOI - 10.1002/kin.550140705
Subject(s) - tetralin , chemistry , cracking , dehydrogenation , hydrogen , hydrocarbon , nitrogen , ring (chemistry) , inorganic chemistry , organic chemistry , photochemistry , catalysis
Thermal cracking of indan and tetralin in the gas phase was carried out in a flow reactor at 500°C and 8 MPa pressure in the presence of hydrogen and nitrogen. The primary reactions are ring cracking and dehydrogenation, regardless of the nature of the second component. Ring cracking, however, is strongly enhanced by the presence of hydrogen. This enhancement becomes less significant with increasing concentration of the hydrocarbon in the gaseous reaction mixture and also with a decreasing ratio of hydrogen to hydrocarbon. At hydrocarbon concentrations larger than approximately 0.5 g·mol/L and H 2 ‐to‐HC molar ratios of 1 or lower, conversion rates are almost equal in hydrogen and in nitrogen. Ring cracking exhibits different kinetic behavior in nitrogen than in excess of hydrogen. This illustrates the occurrence of two complementary cracking mechanisms, each of which can dominate in certain concentration ranges. The H 2 ‐initiated ring cracking is gradually transformed into a hydrogen‐donor mechanism as the leading reaction scheme when the concentration of indan or tetralin is increased.