Thermogravimetry applied for catalytic degradation of atmospheric residue of petroleum on mesoporous catalyst

Thermogravimetry was used in order to evaluate thermal and catalytic degradation of atmospheric residue of petroleum (ATR) which is found at Brazilian refineries, after a process of atmospheric distillation. The catalyst used for the thermocatalytic degradation of ATR was the AlMCM-41 mesoporous material. The AlMCM-41 was obtained from hydrothermal method using cetyltrimethylammonium as organic template. The calcined material was characterized by chemical analysis and X-ray diffraction. The thermogravimetry analysis was carried out at temperature range of 30 to 900 °C and heating rates of 5, 10 and 20 °C min⁻¹, under nitrogen gas. From TG, the activation energy, determined using the Ozawa–Flynn–Wall kinetic method, decreased from 288 kJ mol⁻¹, for pure ATR, to 55 kJ mol⁻¹, in the presence of the AlMCM-41 material, evidencing the efficiency of the mesoporous materials for the catalytic degradation of petroleum residues.