ABSTRACT
Zeolite Y was synthesized from Kankara kaolin using a novel split method. The zeolite Y synthesized was thermally stabilized by impregnating with rare earth metal. Catalytic cracking catalysts; catalyst Y zeolite and catalyst Y zeolite + ZSM5 blend were formulated. The physiochemical and thermal properties of the raw and intermediate materials, zeolite synthesized and catalyst formulated were characterized using XRD, XRF, BET, SEM, TEM, TGA/DTG, FTIR, UV/VIS spectrometry and Flame photometry. The acidity of the zeolite Y synthesized was determined using the pyridine probe acidity test. The catalytic performance of the catalysts formulated were determined using fixed bed catalytic cracking reactor. The BET specific surface area, pore volume, Si/Al, and average particle size of the Kankara kaolin used as raw material were 12.95 m2/g, 0.0038 cm3/g, 1.9 and 1.0 μm respectively. The BET specific surface area, pore volume, Si/Al, and average particle size of a typical zeolite Y synthesized from Kankara kaolin were 830.0 m2/g, 0.2951 cm3/g, 4.26 and 1.425 nm respectively. The crystallinity of the synthesized zeolite Y was 72.5% that of a commercial zeolite Y. The Lewis acidity, BrØnsted acidity, total acidic concentrations of the synthesized zeolite Y using the novel method were 69.82, 178.19 and 248.01 μmol/g respectively. The formulated catalyst Y prepared from the zeolite Y synthesized using the novel split method showed high catalytic performances. The activity and gasoline yield at reaction temperature of 500?C were 70.89% and 17.92% respectively. The formulated composite catalyst Y zeolite + ZSM5 blend using the zeolite Y synthesized using the novel split method showed higher catalytic performances than their counterpart catalyst Y. The activity and gasoline yield at reaction temperature of 500?C were 73.17% and 59.38% respectively. The synthesized zeolite Y also showed highly promising performance when used for adsorptive desulfurization of a model diesel oil using microwave assisted desulfurization method.