LAUSR

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.