Hydrocracking is a catalytic cracking process assisted by the presence of added hydrogen gas. Unlike a hydrotreater, hydrocracking uses hydrogen to break C–C bonds (hydrotreatment is conducted prior to hydrocracking to protect the catalysts in a hydrocracking process). In 2010, 265 million tons of petroleum was processed with this technology. The main feedstock is vacuum gas oil, a heavy fraction of petroleum.
The products of this process are saturated hydrocarbons; depending on the reaction conditions (temperature, pressure, catalyst activity) these products range from ethane and LPG to heavier hydrocarbons consisting mostly of isoparaffins. Hydrocracking is normally facilitated by a bifunctional catalyst that is capable of rearranging and breaking hydrocarbon chains as well as adding hydrogen to aromatics and olefins to produce naphthenes and alkanes.
The major products from hydrocracking are jet fuel and diesel, but low sulphur naphtha fractions and LPG are also produced. All these products have a very low content of sulfur and other contaminants with a goal of reducing the gasoil and naphtha range material to 10 PPM sulfur or lower. It is very common in Europe and Asia because those regions have high demand for diesel and kerosene. In the US, fluid catalytic cracking is more common because the demand for gasoline is higher.
The hydrocracking process depends on the nature of the feedstock and the relative rates of the two competing reactions, hydrogenation and cracking. Heavy aromatic feedstock is converted into lighter products under a wide range of very high pressures (1,000–2,000 psi) and fairly high temperatures (750–1,500 °F; 399–816 °C), in the presence of hydrogen and special catalysts.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cracking_%28chemistry%29#HydrocrackingJust another day, just another accident, in a civilization powered by fossil fuels...
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