Upgrading of oil sand bitumen was examined using a catalyst consisting of CeO 2 -ZrO 2 -Al 2 O 3 -FeO X and sub-and super-critical water in two reactor types: batch-type and fixed-bed flow-type. Bitumen diluted with benzene was used as a feedstock, and the effects of reaction pressure and temperature on product yield were 5 investigated. Under conditions of high pressure (approximately 19 MPa), catalytic decomposition of bitumen proceeded effectively over the FeO X -based catalyst, with the yield of lighter components such as gas oil and vacuum gas oil (VGO) reaching 70 mol%-C at a reaction temperature of 693 K. Moreover, because coke formation on the catalyst was suppressed (less than 10 mol%-C under optimized reaction pressure and 10 temperature), the FeO X -based catalyst showed excellent durability and reusability for catalytic decomposition of bitumen.

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The surface of beta zeolite (SiO2/Al2O3 = 150) was modified using triphenyl silane in a liquid phase, and a series of catalysts was applied in cracking of heavy oil in the presence of steam. Steam reduces the coke formation, but at the same time, zeolite catalysts may be degraded in an aqueous environment at high temperatures. This problem was overcome using the surface-modified zeolite catalyst. The silane treatment of the zeolite surface not only reduced the coke amount but also stabilized the catalyst by increasing the hydrophobicity of the external surface of zeolite. Moreover, an atmospheric residue, which was used as a heavy oil feedstock, effectively decomposed into a lighter hydrocarbon (gasoline, kerosene, and gas oil) over silane-treated beta zeolite. Different reaction times were evaluated for modified beta zeolite in steam-assisted catalytic cracking of the atmospheric residue. The yield of the lighter hydrocarbon (C7–C35) was increased significantly up to 50.4 mol % in the product stream over silane-treated catalysts after 2 h of reaction time, while the gasoline production was increased to 35.4 mol % compared to 30.9 mol % over a parent beta catalyst. This indicates an improvement on the stability of beta catalysts after silane treatment.

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The behavior of a CeO 2 −ZrO 2 −Al 2 O 3 −FeO x catalyst typically employed during heavy oil decomposition was investigated in conjunction with the addition of H 2 O, as a means of improving the upgrading activity and suppressing coke formation on the catalyst. The upgrading of oil sand bitumen diluted with benzene was examined with this catalyst at various F H 2 O /F bitumen ratios [where F H 2 O is the water flow rate (g h −1 ) and F bitumen is the bitumen feedstock flow rate (g h −1 )] in a fixedbed flow-type reactor. Under optimal conditions (F H 2 O /F bitumen equal to approximately 20) and at a reaction temperature of 693 K, effective catalytic decomposition of the bitumen was observed with the lighter component (gas oil and vacuum gas oil) yield reaching 71 mol % C. In addition, the formation of coke on the catalyst was decreased to less than 14 mol % C. Analyses using quadrupole mass spectrometry determined that this catalyst upgrades the heavy oil through oxidation reactions, in which the lattice oxygen of the iron oxide is consumed and, subsequently, regenerated by the decomposition of water molecules over the catalyst.