Effective hierarchical ZSM-5 catalysts for the cracking of naphtha and waste tire-derived oil to light olefins

Hierarchical ZSM-5 zeolite materials with different SiO₂/Al₂O₃ molar ratios in the range of 60–300 were synthesized using soft templating and microemulsion methods to generate zeolite materials with narrow mesopore size distributions. The resulting materials were characterized by X-ray flourescence (XRF), Fourier transform infra-red (FTIR) spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), ammonia temperature programmed desorption (NH₃-TPD), thermo-gravimetric analysis (TGA), Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) surface area measurements, and products from the catalytic tests were analyzed by gas chromatography (GC). The XRF analysis determined that the Si/Al ratios for the synthesized ZSM-5 were close to the batch ratios. The XRD and FTIR results revealed that the synthesized samples had crystalline ZSM-5 zeolite structures. The small angle observed from the XRD patterns confirmed the presence of mesopores in the structure of the prepared materials. The SEM results showed that the ZSM-5 synthesized materials had different morphologies and particle sizes, as well as worm-like holes indicating that some macropores with average pore sizes ranging between 68 and 85 nm were successfully generated in these materials. NH₃-TPD results showed that the total acidity of the prepared materials decreased with an increase in the Si/Al (SA) ratio following this trend: SA = 71 > 177 > 345. This may be due to the decrease in the aluminum content, which is largely responsible for the formation of acidic sites in zeolites. The acid strength was found to increase with a decrease in the Si/Al ratio, highlighted by the peak shifts to higher temperatures. From the BET results, the SA = 71 was observed to have the highest SSA of 618 m²/g given by its micropore area of 103 m²/g and an external surface area of 515 m²/g. The high external surface area present in the material was due to the development of mesopores with narrow pore size distribution of approximately 6 nm indicating the success of the microemulsion method for the generation of hierarchical zeolites with well controlled pore sizes. The hierarchical ZSM-5 catalysts were tested for the cracking of various hydrocarbon chain lengths. Low conversions, less than 10%, were obtained in the cracking of hexane; however, when cracking longer chain C₁₂ hydrocarbons, the conversion increased remarkably to 100%. The catalyst with SA = 71 had the highest selectivity towards ethylene and propylene olefins due to its higher acidity in comparison with the other prepared catalysts. Improved activity, selectivity towards ethylene and propylene greater than 60%, and enhanced catalyst stability were demonstrated when using a hierarchical ZSM-5 compared to the commercial catalyst in the cracking of dodecane. High selectivity towards light olefins was obtained for the cracking of waste tire-derived oil. The results suggest that these hierarchical materials are suited to the cracking of long chain hydrocarbons and are promising materials for the valorization of waste tire-derived oils.