Abstract Catalytic thermal cracking of the residue is less common, due to high susceptibility of catalysts to deactivation. In this work, cracking of Athabasca vacuum residue in an autoclave at 400 °C was investigated in presence of in situ prepared and commercial alumina nanoparticles as well as drill cuttings. A high liquid yield of ∼90 wt% was obtained. The nanoparticles and drill cuttings (at 30 wt%) contributed to relatively high coke and gas yields. Nevertheless, the catalytic runs had higher quality maltene product. Reducing drill cuttings concentration to 10 wt% gave the highest liquid yield with high quality maltene. Coke inhibition in presence of optimum drill cuttings concentration is attributed to a balance between the rate of coke precursor formation and adsorption onto the cuttings. Subsequently, at a higher temperature, 420 °C, the higher rate of precursor formation led to similar results between the 10 wt% drill cuttings and the control sample. Both toluene insolubles and produced asphaltenes displayed a lower H/C ratio than asphaltenes in the feed, in line with the thermal cracking activity. Thermogravimetry profiles for the produced asphaltenes was attained at higher temperatures than the toluene insolubles, and was initial-mass sensitive. Accordingly, thermogravimetry profiles should not be indefinitely used to identify the different oil fractions.

中文翻译：

---

Athabasca VR 在封闭反应器系统中的催化热裂解

摘要 由于催化剂对失活的高度敏感性，渣油的催化热裂化不太常见。在这项工作中，研究了在 400 °C 高压釜中阿萨巴斯卡减压渣油在原位制备的商业氧化铝纳米颗粒以及钻屑存在下的裂解。获得了约 90 wt% 的高液体收率。纳米颗粒和钻屑（30 重量%）有助于产生相对较高的焦炭和天然气产量。然而，催化运行具有更高质量的麦芽烯产物。将钻屑浓度降低至 10 wt% 可获得最高的液体产量和高质量的麦芽烯。存在最佳钻屑浓度时的焦炭抑制归因于焦炭前体形成速率与钻屑吸附之间的平衡。随后，在更高的温度，420 °C，较高的前体形成率导致 10 wt% 钻屑和对照样品之间的结果相似。甲苯不溶物和生成的沥青质都显示出比进料中的沥青质更低的 H/C 比，这与热裂解活性一致。所生产的沥青质的热重曲线是在比甲苯不溶物更高的温度下获得的，并且对初始质量敏感。因此，不应无限期地使用热重分析图来识别不同的油馏分。所生产的沥青质的热重曲线是在比甲苯不溶物更高的温度下获得的，并且对初始质量敏感。因此，不应无限期地使用热重分析图来识别不同的油馏分。生成的沥青质的热重分析曲线是在比甲苯不溶物更高的温度下获得的，并且对初始质量敏感。因此，不应无限期地使用热重分析图来识别不同的油馏分。