ZrO2-impregnated red mud catalysts were employed as a novel catalyst for catalytic cracking of vacuum residue with steam. Under the batch reaction condition at 470 degrees C for 2 h with superheated steam, 3 wt% ZrO2-impregnated red mud exhibited the best performance for catalytic cracking of vacuum residue. Furthermore, under the same reaction conditions, the conversion and liquid yield of 3 wt% ZrO2-impregnated red mud were higher than those of 3 wt% ZrO2-supporting Al-FeOx, a well-known catalyst for catalytic cracking of heavy oil with steam. 3 wt% ZrO2-impregnated red mud also showed better catalytic performance than 3 wt% ZrO2-supporting Al-FeOx under the fixed-bed reaction conditions at 500 degrees C for 2 h with steam atmosphere, resulting in higher conversion as well as liquid yield. The better catalytic performance of 3 wt% ZrO2-impregnated red mud was due to large surface area and high catalyst stability. The large surface area of 3 wt% ZrO2-impregnated red mud could generate more active sites for hydrogenation, which induced higher H/C ratio in liquid product. X-ray diffraction data of the spent catalysts showed that iron oxide phase in 3 wt% ZrO2-impregnated red mud maintained a hematite structure while it in 3 wt% ZrO2-supporting Al-FeOx was transformed to magnetite, inactive phase for catalytic cracking. (C) 2015 Published by Elsevier Ltd.