Role of Rare Earth Cations in Y Zeolite for Hydrocarbon Cracking

Reaction kinetics data were collected for isobutane conversion over a series of ultra stable Y (USY) zeolite catalysts with and without rare earth cations and subjected to various extents of dealumination by steaming. We conducted these reaction studies at low temperatures (523−573 K) using isobutane feed streams containing known levels of isobutylene (100−400 ppm) so that the kinetics were controlled by bimolecular hydride transfer and oligomerization/β-scission processes with little or no participation of monomolecular initiation reactions. These experimental conditions led to stable catalyst performance with the main products of isobutane conversion being propane, n-butane, and isopentane, with smaller amounts of propylene, trans-2-butene, and cis-2-butene. The rates of formation of these products per Brønsted acid site (as counted by pyridine adsorption) depended exponentially on Brønsted acid site density, regardless of whether the catalyst contained rare earth cations. Kinetic modeling showed an exponential dependence of hydride transfer and oligomerization/ β-scission reaction rates on Brønsted acid site density which translated into composite activation energies for these reactions having a linear relationship with site density. Based on results in the literature from theoretical calculations, we suggest that increasing Brønsted acid site density in zeolite Y leads to larger zeolite elasticity, increased stabilization of cationic transition states, and lower composite activation barriers for hydride transfer and β-scission steps. The role of rare earth cations, therefore, is to ensure the retention of high Brønsted acid site density under hydrothermal conditions, such as in fluid catalytic cracking (FCC) regenerators, where steam would dealuminate the Y zeolite framework and reduce this site density. It is for this reason that hydride transfer reaction rates are high in the presence of rare earth cations and lead to higher yields of less olefinic gasoline during FCC.