Catalytic cracking process with simultaneous production of a low BTU fuel gas and catalyst regeneration

Claim 1

A continuous process for the catalytic cracking of a hydrocarbon feedstream and the simultaneous generation of a low BTU gas or hydrogen-rich gas from coke which process involves: (1) contacting a hydrocarbon feedstream with an acid catalyst comprising a catalytic component selected from the group consisting of oxides of tungsten, niobium and mixtures thereof and tungsten or niobium oxides in combination with one or more additional metal oxides selected from the group consisting of tantalum oxide, hafnium oxide, chromium oxide, titanium oxide and zirconium oxide on an inorganic refractory oxide support selected from the group consisting of α-alumina η-alumina, γ-alumina, zirconia, boria, thoria, magnesia, zirconium-titanate, titania, chromia, kieselguhr and mixtures thereof, said catalyst being steamed prior to use, at a temperature, pressure and for a time sufficient to effect the desired catalytic change on the hydrocarbon feedstream and yield a coked catalyst; (2) regenerating the coked catalyst at regenerating conditions by contacting same with steam, oxygen-containing gas or mixture thereof to produce a regenerated catalyst and an H 2 rich gas, a low BTU gas rich in CO and a combination thereof; and (3) recirculating the regenerated catalyst of step (2) to the hydrocarbon conversion zone of step (1).