Clays as Catalysts in Petroleum Refining Industry

Abstract

In the last century, catalysts became one of the most powerful tools in the petroleum refining industry. Clays are widely used as catalysts and catalyst supports for a quite broad range of processes. Clay catalysts have attracted much interest in catalytic application in petroleum refining industry. This review will focus on the using of clays and their modifications as catalysts and catalyst supports in the petroleum refining industry. Clays are used extensively for various processes such as catalytic cracking, hydrocracking, reforming, isomerization, hydrogenation, alkylation, etc. The most important clays used in the manufacture of catalysts are kaolin and montmorillonite. The largest use of kaolin is in catalyst substrates in the catalytic cracking of petroleum, in the matrix as catalysts of fluid catalytic cracking, synthetic of zeolite andalumina. Montmorillonites or acid-modified montmorillonites also have been used for numerous reactions. For example, the best clay base for pillaring is a high-swelling Na-montmorillonite. However, the interest on palygorskite and sepiolite clays is more recent, but their interesting application as catalyst supports.