PYROLYSIS OF GASOLINE IN THE PRESENCE OF METAL CHLORIDES
In the presence of certain metal chlorides (InCl <sub>3</sub>, BiCl <sub>3</sub>, MgCl <sub>2</sub>, CaCl <sub>2</sub>, SrCl <sub>2</sub>, BaCl <sub>2</sub>) and complexes of metal chlorides (NaAlCl4, NaBiCl <sub>4</sub>), there is a process of destruction of gasoline accompanied by intense gas production already at 573 K at temperatures at which catalytic conversion of hydrocarbons comprising the gasoline fraction cannot occur. The yield of gases depending on temperature and type of catalyst ranges from 60 to 90 wt.% on raw. By temperature ranges of the catalysts activity and by the gaseous products, the studied catalytically active inorganic chlorides can be divided into two groups. The first group of catalysts include the chlorides of indium, bismuth, double salts sodium tetrachloroaluminate and sodium tetrachloroaurate in whose presence the destruction of gasoline occurs already at temperatures 523-573 K ; the main part of gaseous products is different C4-hydrocarbons mainly represented by olefins. The second group of catalysts includes the anhydrous chlorides of alkaline earth metals: magnesium, calcium, strontium, barium, which begin to show appreciable catalytic activity at temperatures higher than 723 K. The quantitative composition of gases of decomposition differs as well, and it is dominated by ethylene and propylene. The difference in the temperature fields and the composition of the products showed different mechanisms of catalytic action of the catalysts from the first and second studied groups. Chlorides of alkaline earth metals attributed to the second group of the studied catalytically active compounds are of great interest as catalysts for a typical pyrolysis process, which indicates the possibility of the creation of advanced low-temperature catalytic industrial process for producing monomers for the petrochemical industry.