Selective catalytic cracking process of natural gas liquid fraction to light olefins and other products

Abstract

A selective catalytic cracking process of natural gas liquid fraction to light olefins and other products is described, the process includes placing in contact (within a reaction zone) said liquid fraction of natural gas, rich in C 5 + paraffins, with an MFI type zeolitic catalyst in acid form, having a pore size of at least 4 Angstroms, a silica/alumina ratio of between 10 and 2000, and where the processing conditions involve a temperature of between 350° C. and 650° C., space velocity of between 2 and 100 h −1 and atmospheric pressure, and afterwards carrying out the catalytic cracking to separate products, to recover a product enriched with light olefins, LPG fractions, and aromatics, and where the production of olefins is favored in conditions of higher space velocities, while the production of LPG fractions and aromatics are favored in conditions of lowered space velocities.

1 . Selective catalytic cracking process of natural gas liquid fraction to light olefins and other products, characterized in that it includes placing said liquid fraction of natural gas, rich in C5+ paraffins, in contact (within a reaction zone) with an MFI type zeolitic catalyst in acid form, having a pore size of at least 4 Angstroms, a silica/alumina ratio of between 10 and 2000, and where the processing conditions involve a temperature of between 350° C. and 650° C., space velocity of between 2 and 100 h −1  and atmospheric pressure, and afterwards carrying out the catalytic cracking to separate products, to recover a product enriched with light olefins, LPG fractions, and aromatics, and where the production of olefins is favored in conditions of higher space velocities, while the production of LPG fractions and aromatics are favored in conditions of lowered space velocities.  
   
   
       2 . Process in accordance with  claim 1 , characterized by the use of an MFI type zeolitic catalyst in the form of dust, pellet or any other configuration.  
   
   
       3 . Process in accordance with  claim 1 , characterized in that additional to before the use of said catalyst, it is pretreated at a temperature within the range of 200-650° C., preferably between 300-600° C., more specifically at 530° C., for a period of 2 hours under the continuous flow of a carrier gas (preferably air or nitrogen).  
   
   
       4 . Process in accordance with  claim 1 , characterized in that the MFI type catalyst is a ZSM-5 zeolite.  
   
   
       5 . Process in accordance with  claim 1 , characterized in that the results obtained of total olefins (ethene+propene+butenes) in the effluent with a composition (% weight) falls within a range of between 2% and 50%, preferably between 4% and 30%, more preferably between 6% and 20%.  
   
   
       6 . Process in accordance with  claim 1 , characterized in that the results of the LPG fraction in the effluent with a composition (% weight) fall within a range of between 5% and 70%, preferably between 7% and 50%, more preferably between 9% and 40%.  
   
   
       7 . Process in accordance with  claim 1 , characterized in that the results of the aromatic fraction in the effluent with a composition (% weight) fall within a range of between 1% and 50%, preferably between 1% and 40%, more preferably between 1% and 30%.  
   
   
       8 . Process in accordance with  claim 7 , characterized in that the composition (% weight) of toluene falls within a preferable range of between 33% and 44% of the total aromatic fraction composition.  
   
   
       9 . Process in accordance with  claim 1 , characterized in that the results of selectivity (% weight) for total olefins (ethene+propene+butenes) fall within a range of between 10% and 80%, preferably between 15% and 70%, more preferably between 17% and 65%.  
   
   
       10 . Process in accordance with  claim 1 , characterized in that the results of selectivity (% weight) for the LPG fraction fall within a range of between 5% and 50%, preferably between 10% and 40%, more preferably between 15% and 35%.  
   
   
       11 . Process in accordance with  claim 1 , characterized in that the results of selectivity (% weight) for the aromatics fall within a range of between 1% and 70%, preferably between 3% and 60%, more preferably between 5% and 45%.