A detailed reaction kinetic model of light naphtha isomerization on Pt/zeolite catalyst

There is increasing interest in kinetic models of catalytic refining processes, because of their importance in developing and improving these processes. In fact, the models can be used to predict process performance parameters and to determine the optimum operating conditions. In this work, a detailed reaction kinetic model was developed to describe light naphtha isomerisation reactions over different Pt/zeolite catalysts (Pt/mordenite, Pt/ZSM5, and Pt/BETA). The proposed kinetic model included 66 isomerisation, 28 ring opening, 1 olefin saturation, 22 dehydrogenation, and 90 hydrocracking reactions for 52 real light naphtha components graded from methane to n-octane. A power law reaction kinetics was assumed for all reactions, and 414 kinetic parameters were fine-tuned by comparing the predictions of the model with the results of light naphtha isomerisation experiments at six different temperatures (290, 310, 330, 350, 370, and 390 °C). The Matlab software (version 2015a) was used to perform all the calculations in the current study, and the optimum set of kinetic parameters was estimated using genetic algorithm optimisation. The mean absolute errors for all component compositions at different temperatures were found to be 0.003608, 0.004841, and 0.004757 for the Pt/mordenite, Pt/ZSM5, and Pt/BETA catalysts, respectively. The values of the mean absolute errors estimated from the comparison between the experimental and predicted results showed a very good agreement between the model predictions and the experimental data. © 2020 The Authors