ISSN print edition: 0366-6352 ISSN electronic edition: 1336-9075 Registr. No.: MK SR 9/7 Published monthly

Kinetics and modelling of heptane steam-cracking

Natália Olahová, Martin Bajus, Elena Hájeková, Lukáš Šugár, and Jozef Markoš

Department of Petroleum Technology and Petrochemistry, Slovak University of Technology in Bratislava, Radlinského 9, 812 37, Bratislava, Slovakia

E-mail: natalia.olahova@UGent.be

Abstract: The kinetics and product distribution during the cracking of heptane in the presence of steam were investigated. The experiments were performed in a flow reactor under atmospheric pressure in a temperature range of 680–760°C with a mass ratio of steam to heptane of 3: 1. The overall decomposition of heptane is represented by a first-order reaction with activation energy of 249.1 kJ mol⁻¹ and a frequency factor of 3.13 × 10¹³ s⁻¹. The reaction products were analysed using gas chromatography, the main product being ethylene. The molecular reaction scheme, which consists of a primary reaction and 24 secondary reactions between primary products, was used for modelling the experimental product yields. The yields of ethylene and hydrogen were in good agreement; however the experimental yields of propylene were higher than the predicted yields.

Keywords: steam-cracking – heptane – kinetics – product distribution – molecular model

Full paper is available at www.springerlink.com.

DOI: 10.2478/s11696-013-0518-2

Chemical Papers 68 (12) 1678–1689 (2014)