Sulfided Mo and CoMo supported on zeolite as hydrodesulfurization catalysts: transformation of dibenzothiophene and 4,6-dimethyldibenzothiophene

The hydrodesulfurization (HDS) of dibenzothiophene (DBT) and of 4,6-dimethyldibenzothiophene (4,6-DMDBT) was carried out on sulfided Mo and CoMo on HY catalysts, and also on sulfided Mo and CoMo on alumina catalysts (fixed bed reactor, 330°C, 3 MPa hydrogen pressure). On all the catalysts, the two reactants transformed through the same parallel pathways: direct desulfurization (DDS) leading to biphenyl-type compounds, and desulfurization after hydrogenation (HYD) leading first to tetrahydrogenated intermediates, then to cyclohexylbenzene-type products. However, additional reactions were observed with the zeolite-supported catalysts, namely methylation of the reactants, cracking of the desulfurized products, and, in the case of 4,6-DMDBT, displacement of the methyl groups and transalkylation. The global activity of Mo/zeolite in DBT or 4,6-DMDBT transformation as well as its activity for the production of desulfurized products (HDS) were much higher than those of Mo/alumina. On the other hand, cobalt exerted a promoting effect on the activity in the transformation of DBT or 4,6-DMDBT of all the molybdenum catalysts. However, this effect was much less significant with the zeolite support than with the alumina support, which indicated that the promoter was not well associated to molybdenum on the zeolite support. Therefore, the activity of CoMo/zeolite in the HDS of DBT was much lower than that of CoMo/alumina. On the contrary, in the case of 4,6-DMDBT CoMo/zeolite was more active in HDS than CoMo/alumina. This increase in HDS activity was attributed to the transformation of 4,6-DMDBT into more reactive isomers through an acid-catalyzed methyl migration. The consequence was that on the zeolite-supported catalyst 4,6-DMDBT was more reactive than DBT.     

A structured Co–B catalyst for hydrogen extraction from NaBH4 solution

A structured Co–B catalyst has been developed to produce hydrogen from an alkaline NaBH₄ solution. The catalyst was prepared by chemical reduction of Co precursors coated on a Ni foam support. The effects of catalyst preparation conditions on activity of the catalyst were investigated. The active catalyst was amorphous in structure and contains boron with a Co/B molar ratio of 1.5–2.8. With increasing the heat treatment temperature, the catalyst showed a maximum activity to hydrogen generation at approximately 250 °C. Adhesion of the catalyst to the support was also enhanced by heat treatment at 300–400 °C. The catalysts were successfully applied in both a batch reactor and a flow reactor for continuous generation of hydrogen.     

A comparative study on the effect of promoter content of hydrodesulfurization catalysts at different evaluation scales

CoMo and NiMo supported Al₂O₃ catalysts have been investigated for hydrotreating of model molecule as well as industrial feedstock. Activity studies were carried out for thiophene and SRGO hydrodesulfurization (HDS) in an atmospheric pressure and batch reactor respectively. These activities on sulfided catalysts were evaluated as a function of promoter content [M/(M + Mo) = 0.30, 0.34, 0.39; M = Co or Ni] using fixed (ca. 8 wt.%) molybdenum content. The promoted catalysts were characterized by textural properties, XRD, and temperature programmed reduction (TPR). TPR spectra of the Co and Ni promoter catalysts showed that Ni promotes the easy reduction of Mo species compared with Co. With the variation of promoter content NiMo catalyst was found to be superior to CoMo catalyst for gas oil HDS, while at low-promoter content the opposite trend was observed for HDS of thiophene. The behavior was attributed to the several reaction mechanisms involved for gas oil HDS. A nice relationship was obtained for hydrodesulfurized gas oil refractive index (RI) and aromatic content, which corresponds to the Ni hydrogenation property.     

Supported (NiMo,CoMo)-carbide, -nitride phases: Effect of atomic ratios and phosphorus concentration on the HDS of thiophene and dibenzothiophene

A study on the catalytic properties of the transition metals (Ni,Co,Mo)-carbides, -nitrides for thiophene and dibenzothiophene hydrotreating was conducted. The (Ni,Co)-Mo carbides and the corresponding (Ni,Co)-Mo nitride phases showed a catalytic activity higher than conventional bimetallic (Ni,Co)-Mo sulfides. In addition, a study was done on the effect of the atomic ratios, i.e., 0.1 ≤ M⁺/(M⁺ + Mo) ≤ 0.9 where M⁺ stands for Ni or Co, and the concentration of promoters such as phosphorous, which was a structural stabilizing agent. The catalytic performance of the bimetallic NiMo and CoMo carbides and nitrides was studied using thiophene and dibenzothiophene hydrodesulfurization (HDS) as model reactions at 623 K and P = 1 atm. The catalytic activity of the dispersed carbide and nitride phases on the alumina carrier was more significant than that of the reference catalysts, alumina supported NiMo-S and CoMo-S. The metallic character of the NiMo and CoMo carbides was evidenced by their higher hydrogenation activity in thiophene HDS, while the nitrides favored both hydrogenation and hydrogenolysis type reactions.     

Metal-ion pillared clays as hydrocracking catalysts (II): effect of contact time on products from coal extracts and petroleum distillation residues

Novel catalysts have been prepared, based on montmorillonite (a natural clay) and laponite (a synthetic clay) pillared with tin, chromium and aluminium pillars as well as layered double hydroxides based on polyoxo-vanadate and -molybdate as previously described. These novel catalysts were compared initially with a standard Ni/Mo catalyst supported on alumina and a dispersed catalyst, Mo(CO)₆ in hydrocracking a coal extract for a short contact time of 10 min at 440 °C in a microbomb reactor with tetralin solvent and hydrogen at a pressure of 190 bar. In the present work, the best of the novel catalysts, chromium montmorillonite calcined at 500 °C and tin laponite, have been compared with the supported catalyst and a dispersed catalyst (Mo(CO)₆) in the repeated hydrocracking of fresh coal extract over three sequential periods of 1 h. Also, the chromium montmorillonite calcined at 500 °C has been used in the hydrocracking of primary coal extracts, prepared in the flowing solvent liquefaction rig from Pittsburgh #8 and Illinois #6 coals, for reaction times of 10 min and 2 h. Further, the chromium montmorillonite calcined at 500 °C and tin laponite, have been compared with the supported catalyst and in the absence of a catalyst, in the hydrocracking of a petroleum distillation residue with 10 min and 2 h reaction times. Results were compared by size exclusion chromatography in NMP solvent and by UV-fluorescence and evaluated by the extent of the shift of the SEC profile to small molecules and by the shift of the synchronous UV-fluorescence profiles to shorter wavelengths. The performances of both catalysts at short, long or repeated reaction times are seen to be better than that of the conventional NiMo catalyst for the hydrocracking of coal-derived materials and a petroleum residue. Trials on a longer time scale are necessary in the next level of evaluation.     

硫化型NiMo加氢催化剂制备与表征

以四硫代钼酸铵溶液和硝酸镍溶液为浸渍液,根据活性组分Ni和Mo浸渍顺序的不同,采用真空饱和浸渍法制备了MN系列和NM系列 NiMoS/γ-Al₂O₃催化剂。在固定床加氢中试反应装置上研究了NiMoS/γ-Al₂O₃催化剂对二苯并噻吩加氢反应的催化性能,结果表明,NiMoS/γ-Al₂O₃催化剂对二苯并噻吩加氢反应具有良好的活性和选择性。Ni助剂的加入,有利于二苯并噻吩加氢反应的活性和选择性。MN-0.3为最优NiMoS/γ-Al₂O₃催化剂。在空速10 h^-1、反应压力2.0 MPa、氢油体积比300∶1、氢气预处理温度320 ℃和反应温度300 ℃条件下,催化剂对二苯并噻吩加氢反应转化率达83.9%,加氢反应活性较高。     

Effect of solvo-thermal treatment temperature on the properties of sol–gel ZrO2–TiO2 mixed oxides as HDS catalyst supports

ZrO₂–TiO₂ mixed oxide (30–70 mol/mol) was prepared by low-temperature sol–gel followed by solvo-thermal treatment (1 day) at various temperatures (40, 80, 120, 160 and 200 °C). Selected samples of the corresponding single oxides were also prepared. Materials characterization was carried out by N₂ physisorption, XRD, thermal analysis (TG-DTA) and UV–vis DRS, infra-red and Laser-Raman spectroscopies. Binary solids of enhanced pore volume and pore size diameter were obtained by increasing the post-treatment severity. Anatase TiO₂ micro-segregation was evidenced by Raman spectroscopy for the mixed oxide solvo-treated at the highest temperature. This solid also showed the highest crystallization temperature to ZrTiO₄ (702 °C). Mo impregnated (2.8 atom nm⁻²) on various mixed oxides was sulfided under H₂S/H₂ (400 °C, 1 h), the catalysts being tested in the dibenzothiophene hydrodesulfurization (HDS, T = 320 °C, P = 5.59 MPa). By increasing the severity of the solvo-treatment improved supports for MoS₂ phase were obtained. The HDS activity of the catalyst with carrier post-treated at 200 °C was 40% higher (in per total mass basis) than that of sulfided Mo supported on the binary oxide solvo-treated at 80 °C. The ZrO₂–TiO₂-supported catalysts showed higher selectivity to products from the hydrogenation route than their counterparts supported on either single oxide.     

Catalytic combustion over platinum group catalysts: fuel-lean versus fuel-rich operation

Performance data are presented for methane oxidation on alumina-supported Pd, Pt, and Rh catalysts under both fuel-rich and fuel-lean conditions. Catalyst activity was measured in a micro-scale isothermal reactor at temperatures between 300 and 800 °C. Non-isothermal (near adiabatic) temperature and reaction data were obtained in a full-length (non-differential) sub-scale reactor operating at high pressure (0.9 MPa) and constant inlet temperature, simulating actual reactor operation in catalytic combustion applications.

Under fuel-lean conditions, Pd catalyst was the most active, although deactivation occurred above 650 °C, with reactivation upon cooling. Rh catalyst also deactivated above 750 °C, but did not reactivate. Pt catalyst was active above 600 °C. Fuel-lean reaction products were CO₂ and H₂O for all three catalysts.

The same catalysts tested under fuel-rich conditions demonstrated much higher activity. In addition, a ‘lightoff’ temperature was found (between 450 and 600 °C), where a stepwise increase in reaction rate was observed. Following ‘lightoff’ partial oxidation products (CO, H₂) appeared in the mixture, and their concentration increased with increasing temperature. All three catalysts exhibited this behavior.

High-pressure (0.9 MPa) sub-scale reactor and combustor data are shown, demonstrating the benefits of fuel-rich operation over the catalyst for ultra-low emissions combustion.     

Aromatics saturation by sulfided Nickel---Molybdenum hydrotreating catalysts

The effect of H₂S on the rates of toluene hydrogenation of sulfided Mo, Ni, Ni---Mo and Ni---Mo---P/alumina catalysts has been determined at 6 MPa, 350°C over a large range of H₂S partial pressure. In those conditions, Ni/alumina is nearly inactive. For the three other catalysts, similar trends are found with in particular no effect of H₂S at high partial pressure. In the presence of NH₃, the effect of H₂S remains globally the same.     

Hydrodenitrogenation of quinoline over Ni–Mo/Al2O3 catalyst modified with fluorine and phosphorus

In this paper, the effects of fluorine and phosphorus on the physical and chemical properties of Ni–Mo/Al₂O₃ catalysts and the hydrodenitrogenation (HDN) activity of quinoline were investigated. The acidity, pore structure, and dispersion of Mo of the catalysts were analyzed with TG-DTA, BET, and XRD techniques. The activities of hydrodenitrogenation and hydrogenation of the catalysts were investigated using hydrogenation of quinoline at high pressure in a micro-reactor. Experimental results verified that phosphorus can promote the formation of moderate and strong acidic sites, the dispersion of Mo, and the formation of the active phases; therefore, the hydrogenation activity of aromatic rings and the hydrogenolysis activity of C–N bonds increase. The hydrogenation and hydrogenolysis accelerate each other, which results in the increase of HDN activity. It is concluded that phosphorus is a promoter for HDN activity of the Ni–Mo/Al₂O₃ catalysts. Fluorine can promote the formation of weak and moderate acidic sites and the dispersion of Mo, but inhibit the formation of the active phases. Therefore, the hydrogenation activity of aromatic rings and the hydrogenolysis activity of C–N bonds decrease, which results in the decrease of HDN activity. It is concluded that fluorine is not a promoter for HDN activity of the Ni–Mo/Al₂O₃ catalysts. The possible promoting mechanism of fluorine and phosphorus for the Ni–Mo/Al₂O₃ catalyst is put forward and discussed.     

Mesoporous molecular sieve MCM-41 supported Co–Mo catalyst for hydrodesulfurization of petroleum resids

In this work, we explored the potential of mesoporous zeolite-supported Co–Mo catalyst for hydrodesulfurization of petroleum resids, atmospheric and vacuum resids at 350–450°C under 6.9 MPa of H₂ pressure. A mesoporous molecular sieve of MCM-41 type was synthesized; which has SiO₂/Al₂O₃ ratio of about 41. MCM-41 supported Co–Mo catalyst was prepared by co-impregnation of Co(NO₃)₂·6H₂O and (NH₄)₆Mo₇O₂₄ followed by calcination and sulfidation. Commercial Al₂O₃ supported Co–Mo (criterion 344TL) and dispersed ammonium tetrathiomolybdate (ATTM) were also tested for comparison purposes. The results indicated that Co–Mo/MCM-41(H) is active for HDS, but is not as good as commercial Co–Mo/Al₂O₃ for desulfurization of petroleum resids. It appears that the pore size of the synthesized MCM-41 (28 Å) is not large enough to convert large-sized molecules such as asphaltene present in the petroleum resids. Removing asphaltene from the resid prior to HDS has been found to improve the catalytic activity of Co–Mo/MCM-41(H). The use of ATTM is not as effective as that of Co–Mo catalysts, but is better for conversions of >540°C fraction as compared to noncatalytic runs at 400–450°C.     

Catalytic properties of nickel molybdenum sulphide supported on zirconia

Zirconia has been investigated as a support material for Mo and NiMo sulphide catalysts. Thiophene HDS studies (1 atm, 400°C) reveal that the ZrO₂-supported Mo catalysts are twice as active as the corresponding Mo/Al₂O₃ catalysts. The promoting effect brought by nickel, however, is much smaller than expected in comparison with alumina supported catalysts; the use of zirconia induces higher hydrogenation selectivity. It is suggested that the promoter ions interact with both the Mo sulphide slab and the zirconia carrier, which results in a change in properties of the mixed catalytic sites.

The increased selectivity towards hydrogenation may be an important advantage when dealing with hydrodenitrogenation processes. Indeed, in catalytic tests carried out at 70 atm, 350°C, 2,6-diethylaniline reacts more rapidly over zirconia catalysts ; similarly, the hydrogenation route is well developed in the complex reaction scheme of quinoline. However the inhibiting effect of quinoline (or 1,2,3,4-tetrahydroquinoline) upon the reactivity of alkylanilines is as strong on zirconia supported as on alumina supported catalysts.

Nevertheless, the beneficial effect of the zirconia carrier is observed in the HDN of the less reactive phenanthridine molecule (140 atm, 340°C), and also in the HDN of real feed in a pilot test.     

Catalytic combustion of methane over bimetallic Pd–Pt catalysts: The influence of support materials

The effect of support material on the catalytic performance for methane combustion has been studied for bimetallic palladium–platinum catalysts and compared with a monometallic palladium catalyst on alumina. The catalytic activities of the various catalysts were measured in a tubular reactor, in which both the activity and stability of methane conversion were monitored. In addition, all catalysts were analysed by temperature-programmed oxidation and in situ XRD operating at high temperatures in order to study the oxidation/reduction properties.

The activity of the monometallic palladium catalyst decreases under steady-state conditions, even at a temperature as low as 470 °C. In situ XRD results showed that no decomposition of bulk PdO into metallic palladium occurred at temperatures below 800 °C. Hence, the reason for the drop in activity is probably not connected to the bulk PdO decomposition.

All Pd–Pt catalysts, independently of the support, have considerably more stable methane conversion than the monometallic palladium catalyst. However, dissimilarities in activity and ability to reoxidise PdO were observed for the various support materials. Pd–Pt supported on Al₂O₃ was the most active catalyst in the low-temperature region, Pd–Pt supported on ceria-stabilised ZrO₂ was the most active between 620 and 800 °C, whereas Pd–Pt supported on LaMnAl₁₁O₁₉ was superior for temperatures above 800 °C. The ability to reoxidise metallic Pd into PdO was observed to vary between the supports. The alumina sample showed a very slow reoxidation, whereas ceria-stabilised ZrO₂ was clearly faster.     

Hydrocracking of phenanthrene over bifunctional Pt catalysts

Hydrocracking of phenanthrene was studied in a fixed bed continuous flow reactor under 60 bar total pressure using a bifunctional catalyst constituted of Pt deposited on silica–alumina. GC–MS analysis was utilised in order to identify the numerous products formed during phenanthrene hydrocracking. Following a kinetic study, a reaction pathway was proposed based on a multi-step mechanism: hydrogenation of aromatic rings, isomerisation and cracking of naphtenic rings, and rearrangements. Reaction temperature showed a great effect in terms of selectivity and catalysts comparison was therefore done at a temperature of 300°C. Three bifunctional catalysts: platinum supported on silica–alumina, on H-Y zeolite and on H-β zeolite were compared in terms of activity and selectivity. A close examination of product distribution indicated that the major contributing factor was the pore structure of the support. Zeolite structures favoured overcracking because of the numerous collisions with acid sites that perhydrophenanthrene could undergo during its diffusion.     

Highly active sulfided CoMo catalyst on nano-structured TiO2

High surface area (>300 m² g⁻¹) nano-structured TiO₂ oxides (ns-T) were used as CoMo hydrodesulfurization catalyst support. Cylindrical extrudates were impregnated by incipient wetness with Mo (2.8 Mo at. nm⁻²) and Co (atomic ratio Co/(Co + Mo) = 0.3). Characterization of impregnated precursors was carried out by N₂ physisorption, XRD and atomic absorption and laser-Raman spectroscopies. Sulfided catalysts (400 °C, H₂S/H₂) were studied by X-ray photoelectronic spectroscopy. As indicated by XRD and after various preparation steps (extrusion, Mo and Co impregnation and sulfiding) the nano-structured material was well preserved. XPS analyses showed that Co and Mo dispersion over the ns-T support was much higher than that on alumina. Very high surface S concentration suggested that even ns-T was partially sulfided during catalyst activation. Dibenzothiophene hydrodesulfurization activity (5.73 MPa, 320 °C, n-hexadecane as solvent) of CoMo/ns-T was two-fold to that of an alumina-supported commercial CoMo catalyst. The improvement was even more remarkable in intrinsic pseudo kinetic constant basis. No important differences in selectivity over the catalysts supported on either Al₂O₃ or ns-T were observed, where direct desulfurization to biphenyl was favored. Both Mo dispersion and sulfidability were enhanced on the ns-T support where Mo⁴⁺ fraction was notably increased (100%) as to that found on CoMo/Al₂O₃.     

CoMo/MgO–Al2O3 supported catalysts: An alternative approach to prepare HDS catalysts

Three different supports were prepared with distinct magnesia–alumina ratio x = MgO/(MgO + Al₂O₃) = 0.01, 0.1 and 0.5. Synthesized supports were impregnated with Co and Mo salts by the incipient wetness method along with 1,2-cyclohexanediamine-N,N,N′,N′-tetraacetic acid (CyDTA) as chelating agent. Catalysts were characterized by BET surface area, Raman spectroscopy, SEM-EDX and HRTEM (STEM) spectroscopy techniques. The catalysts were evaluated for the thiophene hydrodesulfurization reaction and its activity results are discussed in terms of using chelating agent during the preparation of catalyst. A comparison of the activity between uncalcined and calcined catalysts was made and a higher activity was obtained with calcined MgO–Al₂O₃ supported catalysts. Two different MgO containing calcined catalysts were tested at micro-plant with industrial feedstocks of heavy Maya crude oil. The effect of support composition was observed for hydrodesulfurization (HDS), hydrodemetallization (HDM), hydrodeasphaltenization (HDAs) and hydrodenitrogenation (HDN) reactions, which were reported at temperature of 380 °C, pressure of 7 MPa and space-velocity of 1.0 h⁻¹ during 204 h of time-on-stream (TOS).     

Hydrodesulfurization of dibenzothiophene over alumina-supported nickel molybdenum phosphide catalysts

The activity of nickel molybdenum phosphide catalysts was studied for the hydrodesulfurization of dibenzothiophene at 573 K and total pressure of 2.0 MPa. The Al₂O₃-supported NiMo phosphide catalysts were prepared by successive and simultaneous methods. The effect of the reduction temperature on the catalyst activity was also studied. The simultaneous preparation was determined to be the best method for the preparation of the active supported catalyst for dibenzothiophene HDS. The 623 K-reduced catalyst had the highest HDS rate of the catalysts. Nickel migrated from the inside to the surface during the reaction and promoted the HDS activity. The active species in the dibenzothiophene HDS and the oxidation states of Mo, Ni and P in the catalyst before and after reaction and of S after the reaction were studied on the basis of an XPS analysis.     

Characterization and activity in dry reforming of methane on NiMg/Al and Ni/MgO catalysts

Dry reforming of methane has been investigated on two series of catalysts either prepared by co-precipitation: n(Ni_xMg_y)/Al, Ni_xMg_y and Ni_xAl_y or prepared by impregnation: Ni/MgO (mol% Ni = 5, 10). The catalysts, calcined at 600–900 °C, were characterized by different techniques: BET, H₂-TPR, TPO, XRD, IR, and TEM-EDX analysis. The surface BET (30–182 m² g⁻¹) decreased with increasing the temperature of calcination, after reduction and in the presence of Mg element. The XRD analysis showed, for n(Ni_xMg_y)/Al catalysts, the presence of NiAl₂O₄ and NiO–MgO solid solutions. The catalyst reducibility decreased with increasing the temperature of pretreatment. The n(Ni_xMg_y)/Al catalysts were active for dry reforming of methane with a good resistance to coke formation. The bimetallic catalyst Ni_0.05Mg_0.95 (calcined at 750 °C and tested at 800 °C) presents a poor activity. In contrast, the 5% Ni/MgO catalyst, having the same composition but prepared by impregnation, presents a high activity for the same calcination and reaction conditions. For all the catalysts the activity decreased with increasing the temperature of calcination and a previous H₂-reduction of the catalyst improves the performances. The TPO profiles and TEM-EDX analysis showed mainly four types of coke: CH_x species, surface carbon, nickel carbide and carbon nanotubes.     

Elucidation of hydrodesulfurization mechanism using S radioisotope pulse tracer methods

The sulfidation state in a series of Co-promoted Mo/Al₂O₃ catalysts was investigated using a ³⁵S pulse tracer method. ³⁵S-labeled H₂S ([³⁵S]H₂S) pulses were introduced into catalysts in a nitrogen stream until the radioactivity in the recovered pulse approached the radioactivity of the introduced pulse. From the amount of introduced [³⁵S]H₂S, the amount of sulfur accumulated on the catalyst was estimated. The result indicated that the amounts of sulfur accumulated on the catalysts increased with increasing temperature for all catalysts. Only molybdenum was sulfided in both Co–Mo/Al₂O₃ and Mo/Al₂O₃ catalysts below 300°C, but the sulfided states of the catalysts at 400°C were very close to the stoichiometric states where Co and Mo are present as Co₉S₈ and MoS₂. Further, hydrodesulfurization (HDS) reactions of radioactive ³⁵S labeled dibenzothiophene were carried out over the series of Co-promoted Mo/Al₂O₃ catalysts. The amount of labile sulfur and the release rate constant of H₂S were determined. The promotion effect of cobalt on activity of the molybdenum catalyst was attributed to the formation of more active sites. Moreover, the increase in the catalytic activity with Co/Mo ratio among the promoted catalysts was due to increase in the number of the sites with the same activity.     

Hydrogenation of a brown coal pretreated with water-soluble nickel/molybdenum and cobalt/molybdenum catalysts

Loy Yang brown coal treated with cobalt acetate/ammonium molybdate (Co/Mo) gave lower conversions than the very high values obtained for the same coal treated with nickel acetate/ammonium molybdate (Ni/Mo) when reacted with hydrogen at 400°C. The difference in conversions obtained between the two catalyst systems decreased with increasing time. Addition of sulphur as carbon disulphide (CS₂) eliminated the difference between the Co/Mo and Ni/Mo catalyst systems, but neither system was more active than a sulphided Mo catalyst. Addition of a hydrogen donor solvent, tetralin, to a reaction in the absence of sulphur decreased conversion for the Ni/Mo catalysed system, but increased that for the Co/Mo system. The order of activity in reactions without solvent or added sulphur for the coal treated with the individual metals was CoMo < Ni. In the presence of sulphur the order was Co Ni < Mo; the addition of sulphur led to no significant improvement with Co catalysts.