Which mechanism lowers activation energy during catalytic cracking of long-chain hydrocarbons in oil refinery?

💡 Explanation

When long-chain hydrocarbons interact with a catalyst during cracking, surface adsorption occurs because the catalyst provides active sites with specific surface energies, facilitating the weakening and breaking of C-C bonds, lowering the activation energy. Therefore surface adsorption leads to bond breakage, rather than increased concentration/heat/stress which do not directly influence activation energy.

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