Upgrading of heavy oil by dispersed biogenic magnetite catalysts

This led to significant decreases in viscosity of up to 99.4% for BnM loaded with 9.5 wt% Pd. An increment of 7.8° in API gravity with respect to the feed oil was achieved for 9.5 wt% Pd-BnM, compared with thermal cracking alone (5.3°). Whilst this level of upgrading was comparable to commercially available and previously tested catalysts, significant decreases in the coke content (3 wt% for 9.5 wt% Pd-BnM versus 10 wt% for thermal cracking) and associated increases in liquid content (~90 wt% for 9.5 wt% Pd-BnM versus ~79 wt% for thermal cracking) demonstrate the potential for the use of Pd-augmented biogenic magnetite as a catalyst in the THAI CAPRI process.