The hydrogenolysis of n-heptane was studied over Ni/γ-Al₂O₃ catalysts in a fixed bed flow reactor. The ranges of operating conditions were between 350 ℃ and 400 ℃ in temperature and from 10 to 50 × 10⁵ Pa in total pressure, respectively. The catalysts were activated by reduction with the flow of 53 L/hr of H₂ at the temperature of 500 ℃ and the pressure of 30 × 10⁵ Pa.
The main products were methane and hexane. The rate determining step was found to be surface reaction and desorption of the products at the temperature of 350 ℃, and it was desorption of the products at the temperature of 375 ℃. The apparent reaction order was first with respect to the concentration of n-heptane and the apparent activation energy was 26.13 Kcal/mole.