Catalytic Activity of an Al—CI—Re System for n-Hexane Cracking

End products of n-hexane cracking in a displacement fixed-bed catalytic reactor (Pt + Re + In + Ti)/γ-Al2O3 with specific surface area 193 m2/g were investigated. The catalytic system was crystalline γ -Al2O3 with lattice constants 8 Å and average crystallite size 4.8 nm. The degree of conversion of n-hexane doubled and the selectivity for methyl-substituted benzene increased by 33.2% as the temperature was increased from 400 to 450°C. The amount of carbonaceous reaction products was unaffected by the increased process temperature although the yield of gaseous products increased significantly. The isobutane content in n-hexane catalytic cracking gases exceeded 30 vol.%. The elemental and phase compositions of the catalytic system did not change during the experiment.