Fluid catalytic cracking (FCC) is one of the most important conversion processes in secondary processing used in petroleum refineries. It is widely used to convert hydrocarbon fractions of petroleum crude oil to more valuable gasoline, olefinic gases, and other products.
The advantage of catalytic cracking is that it produces more gasoline with a higher octane rating. It also produces byproduct gases that are more olefinic. Thus, it helps to achieve a balance between the market demand for gasoline and the excess of heavy, high boiling range products resulting from the distillation of crude oil.
In catalyst cracking, FCC catalyst contacts with feedstock at high temperature and moderate pressure, thus vaporizing and breaking long-chain molecules of high-boiling hydrocarbon liquids into much shorter molecules. FCC addictive enhances the conversion and realizes better economics, by aiding with unit fluidization and increasing the gasoline octane number or increase the propylene yield.
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