Upgrading of oil sand bitumen over an iron oxide catalyst using sub- and super-critical water

• Upgrading of bitumen was carried out under sub- and super-critical conditions using an FeOx-based catalyst.
• Heavy oil was effectively decomposed over the FeOx-based catalyst using sub-critical water.
• Decomposition of bitumen over the catalyst proceeded efficiently at 19.0 MPa and above 673 K.
• The catalyst after removal of coke deposited by calcination in air showed almost the same activity as the fresh catalyst.

Upgrading of oil sand bitumen was examined using a catalyst consisting of CeO2–ZrO2–Al2O3–FeOX and sub- and super-critical water in two reactor types: batch-type and fixed-bed flow-type. Bitumen diluted with benzene was used as a feedstock, and the effects of reaction pressure and temperature on product yield were investigated. Under conditions of high pressure (approximately 19 MPa), catalytic decomposition of bitumen proceeded effectively over the FeOX-based catalyst, with the yield of lighter components such as gas oil and vacuum gas oil (VGO) reaching 70 mol%-C at a reaction temperature of 693 K. Moreover, because coke formation on the catalyst was suppressed (less than 10 mol%-C under optimized reaction pressure and temperature), the FeOX-based catalyst showed excellent durability and reusability for catalytic decomposition of bitumen.

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