Tetralin hydrocracking over a commercial catalyst NiMo/HY was carried out to study temperature effect on product distribution in a laboratory-scale fixed-bed reactor. Based on the experimental results

a reaction network for tetralin hydrocracking was proposed

which contained 12 reactions with different types such as hydrogenation

isomerization

dehydrogenation

ring opening and dealkylation. Thermodynamic equilibrium calculations provided equilibrium constants for all reactions in the network

equilibrium yields of different products as well as yield variations with temperature

pressure and molar ratio of H2 to tetralin. Thermodynamic calculation of product yield changes with operating conditions was generally in agreement with those of experiments

demonstrating that the reaction network depicted well for tetralin hydrocracking over NiMo/HY catalyst system.