A comparison of HY and LaY cracking activity in cumene dealkylation

The kinetics of cumene cracking over an HY zeolite catalyst have been studied on a diffusion-free catalyst, at atmospheric pressure and at temperatures of 360, 430, and 500 °C. The rate constant for dealkylation as well as the decay parameters have thus been determined. These parameters are compared with those obtained using a LaY catalyst, and the observe differences are discussed in terms of the nature and number of Bronsted sites in the two catalysts. We conclude that the nature of the active sites is identical in the two catalyst, but that HY has a greater number of active sites per unit weight.