Characterization of a novel industrial cracking catalyst for oil refinery via near-field ptychographic X-ray Computed Tomography

Unlike the classical fluid catalytic cracking, our novel ACM-101 catalyst is used in a multizone fluidized bed reactor for the direct cracking of crude oil, eliminating the preliminary distillation and hydrotreating steps. ZrO2 is incorporated to prevent coke formation during cracking, leading to durable catalytic performance while enhancing the yield of light olefins. Due to the complex multicomponent microstructure, X-ray nano-imaging is needed to characterize their microstructure. We propose to apply near-field PXCT to provide a high-resolution microscopic view of the microstructure of our ACM-101 catalyst particles for the first time. This will help: (i) understand the textural transformations during the catalytic process and catalyst deactivation during direct conversion of untreated crude oil to light olefins; (ii) identify the localizations of coke deposits; and (iv) understand how the cracking process can be accelerated, which can optimize their scale-up manufacturing process.