Catalytic activity of iron-containing carbon nanotubes in the oxidation reaction of the diesel fuel fraction

Abstract

Liquid-phase aerobic oxidation of petroleum hydrocarbons catalyzed by carbon nanoparticles is focused on the real practical implementation over the rational processing of multicomponent petroleum feedstock. The use of metal-containing carbon nanostructures as catalysts allows known oxidation processes to be considered in the most modern strapping and simultaneously raises related questions about kinetics and mechanism of the process. This paper describes the formal kinetic regularities of the liquid-phase aerobic oxidation of the diesel fuel paraffin-naphthenic fraction in the presence of iron-containing multiwalled carbon nanotubes Fe@MWCNT. The purpose of the work is to determine the activity of the catalyst and the mechanism of its action. The reaction was carried out at 80°C, at which thermal decomposition of hydroperoxides is known to be almost non-existent and the reaction does not initiate. The induction period, the profile of the kinetic curves, and the oxygen uptake rate were taken as criteria for catalyst activity. As a result, it was shown that Fe@MWCNT additives have a significant ability to increase the rate of aerobic oxidation of diesel fractions. A general scheme of catalytic oxidation of hydrocarbons of the petroleum fraction in which the catalyst on a nanocarbon carrier reduces the dissociation energy of the C-H bond and activates the decomposition of hydroperoxides into active reactive particles has been proposed. Keywords: metal-containing carbon nanotubes; petroleum hydrocarbons; diesel fuel; paraffin-naphthenic fraction; oxidation induction period; catalytic hydroperoxide decomposition; oxygen uptake rate.