Kinetic Study on Microwave-Assisted Oligomerization of 1-Decene over a HY Catalyst

A promising production route for a high-quality base stock for lubricants is the oligomerization of high molecular-weight olefins in a high energy efficiency system. Oligomerization of 1-decene (C-10) was conducted in a microwave-assisted system over a HY zeolite catalyst at different reaction temperatures and times. Higher reaction temperature resulted in increasing formation of dimers and trimers. The oligomerization reaction yielded 80% conversion, 54.2% dimer product, 22.3% trimer product and 3.4% heavier product at 483 K for a reaction time of 3 h. The best fit kinetic model for the dimerization reaction was formulated from an assumption of no vacant reaction sites. For the trimerization reaction, a molecule of dimer (C-20) formed on the active site, interacted with a molecule of 1-decene in the bulk solution to form a molecule of trimer (C-30). Apparent activation energies for the dimerization and trimerization reactions were 70.8 +/- 0.8 and 83.6 +/- 0.9 kJ/mol, respectively. The C-13-NMR spectrum indicated that the oligomer product contained a significant portion of highly branched hydrocarbons, causing a substantial reduction in the viscosity index compared to conventional poly-alpha olefin lubricant (PAO).

Automated summary

A promising production route for high-quality lubricant base stock involves oligomerizing high molecular-weight olefins in a high energy efficiency system. The study on oligomerization of 1-decene over a HY zeolite catalyst in a microwave-assisted system showed that higher reaction temperatures resulted in increased formation of dimers and trimers. Kinetic models were formulated for the dimerization and trimerization reactions, with apparent activation energies of 70.8 ± 0.8 and 83.6 ± 0.9 kJ/mol, respectively.