NO.sub.x control in platinum-promoted complete combustion cracking catalyst regeneration

In a process for cracking hydrocarbons in the absence of externally supplied molecular hydrogen in a cracking system employing an inventory of circulating particulate solids including cracking catalyst particles, said inventory being cycled between a cracking zone and a catalyst regeneration zone, wherein said hydrocarbons are cracked in contact with said catalyst particles and coke is formed on said catalyst particles at cracking conditions in said cracking zone, flue gas is formed by burning coke off said catalyst particles with a molecular oxygen-containing and molecular nitrogen-containing gas at regeneration conditions in said regeneration zone, and carbon dioxide and nitrogen oxides are formed by combusting carbon monoxide in the presence of carbon monoxide combustion promoter particles comprising a combustion-promoting metal or compound of a metal associated with at least one particulate solid, said particulate solid being selected from at least one of (1) at least a portion of said catalyst particles, (2) a particulate solid physically admixed with said catalyst particles in said inventory of particulate solids, and (3) a particulate solid retained in said regeneration zone, the method for reducing the amount of nitrogen oxides in said flue gas comprising:

• employing carbon monoxide combustion promoter particles including from 0.1 to 10,000 parts per million, by weight, of platinum and, for each part of platinum, from 0.001 to 1 part, by weight, of a nitrogen oxides-reducing component comprising at least one metal selected from rhodium and iridium.