FULLERENE BASED CATALYSTS FOR HEAVY OIL UPGRADING

HEAVY OILS, INCLUDING RESIDUES FROM CRUDE OIL DISTILLATION (RESIDS), REPRESENT AN ABUNDANT ENERGY RESOURCE THAT IS NOT FULLY UTILIZED. IT HAS BEEN ESTIMATED THAT IF ONLY 20% OF THESE CRUDES COULD BE RECOVERED, THEY WOULD PRODUCE 1.27 MILLION BARRELS OF OIL PER DAY FOR THE NEXT 25 YEARS. USE OF HEAVY OILS REQUIRES CATALYTIC HYDROGENATION FOR REMOVAL OF SULFUR AND NITROGEN, AND TO LOWER THE BOILING RANGE. IMPROVED CATALYSTS FOR HEAVY OIL UPGRADING ARE HIGHLY DESIRABLE, AND A PROMISING AREA FOR IMPROVEMENT IS THE USE OF CARBON CATALYST SUPPORTS, WHICH SHOW ENHANCED ACTIVITY OVER TRADITIONAL ALUMINA SUPPORTS. THE RECENT DISCOVERY OF FULLERENE CARBON NOW OFFERS THE POTENTIAL FOR PREPARATION OF IMPROVED CARBON-SUPPORTED CATALYSTS. FULLERENE-BASED CATALYSTS IN WHICH NANOSCALE METAL PARTICLES ARE DEPOSITED ONTO A CARBON SOOT PRODUCED IN CONJUNCTION WITH FULLERENE CARBON WILL BE INVESTIGATED. THIS SOOT HAS BEEN SHOWN TO POSSESS REMARKABLE PROPERTIES THAT SHOULD BE IDEAL FOR THE HYDROPROCESSING OF HEAVY OILS AND RESIDS. IN PHASE I THE FULLERENE-BASED CATALYSTS WILL BE PREPARED, AND SCREENING TESTS WITH MODEL SYSTEMS WILL BE CONDUCTED TO IDENTIFY EFFECTIVE CATALYSTS. PHASE I RESEARCH WILL ALSO TEST THE BEST CANDIDATE CATALYSTS WITH AUTHENTIC SAMPLES OF HEAVY OILS AND COMPARE THE RESULTS WITH CATALYSTS CURRENTLY IN USE. IT WILL INCLUDE AN ENGINEERING ANALYSIS TO DETERMINE THE COST-EFFECTIVENESS OF THE NEW CATALYSTS. PHASE II WILL SYSTEMATICALLY INVESTIGATE THE FULLERENE-BASED CATALYSTS TO ACHIEVE HIGH PERFORMANCE, FOLLOWED BY COMMERCIALIZATION IN PHASE III.