Fluid catalytic cracking and hydrocracking produce a variety of heating and transport fuels including diesel and gasoline. Cracking is a secondary part of the crude oil refining process. The first step in the refining process is the separation of fossil fuel hydrocarbons. The hydrocracker is one of the most proļ¬table units in your refinery. Even unconverted oil from your hydrocracker can serve as a high-quality feedstock for lube oil plants, fluid catalytic cracking (FCC) units or steam crackers.
Petroleum
Balasubramanian Viswanathan, in Energy Sources, 2017
Hydrocracking
Hydrocracking is a catalytic cracking process assisted by the presence of an elevated partial pressure of hydrogen. The products of this process are saturated hydrocarbons; depending on the reaction conditions (temperature, pressure, and catalyst activity), these products range from ethane and LPG to heavier hydrocarbons mostly composed of isoparaffins. Hydrocracking is normally facilitated by a bifunctional catalyst capable of rearranging and breaking hydrocarbon chains as well as adding hydrogen to aromatics and olefins to produce naphthenes and alkanes. Major products from hydrocracking are jet fuel, diesel, relatively high-octane rating gasoline fractions, and LPG. All of these products have a low content of sulfur and contaminants.