Catalytic performances of platinum doped molybdenum carbide for simultaneous hydrodenitrogenation and hydrodesulfurization

The hydrotreating activity of molybdenum carbide doped with platinum (0.3 wt.%) was studied and compared to that of a pure, non-modified Mo₂C. 4,6-Dimethyldibenzothiophene (4,6-DMDBT, 300 ppm of S) and carbazole (100 ppm of N) were designated as model compounds and subjected to hydrodesufurization (HDS) and hydrodenitrogenation (HDN) processes either separately or simultaneously. In both cases the molybdenum carbide doped with platinum (Mo₂C-Pt) turns out to be more active than Mo₂C. The increase of the hydrotreating activity, owing to the presence of platinum in molybdenum carbide can be related to the raise of hydrogenation activity of the modified catalyst. The platinum modified molybdenum carbide was stable (displays a long lifetime) under HDN and HDS reaction conditions. The predominant reaction products are bicyclohexyl (BCH) for the HDN process or 3,3′-dimethylbiphenyl (3,3′-DMBPh) and methylcyclohexyltoluene (MCHT) for the HDS process, respectively.     

Comparison of molybdenum carbide and tungsten carbide for the hydrodesulfurization of dibenzothiophene

The molybdenum and tungsten carbides (Mo₂C and W₂C) were synthesized, characterized and tested in hydrodesulfurization (HDS) of dibenzothiophene (DBT). The phase purity of these catalysts was established by X-ray diffraction (XRD), and the surface properties were determined by N₂ BET specific surface area (Sg) measurements, CO chemisorption and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM). The activities of catalysts were determined during the HDS of DBT at a temperature of 613 K and under a 6 MPa total pressure. Both molybdenum and tungsten carbides were active in HDS of DBT. The reactivity studies showed that molybdenum carbide was more active than tungsten carbide related to weight. However, W₂C was shown to possess stronger hydrogenating properties.     

Hydrodesulfurization over intrazeolite molybdenum nitride clusters prepared by using hexacarbonyl molybdenum as a precursor

Metal nitride catalysts have received extensive attention because of their potential high performance for hydrodesulfurization (HDS). In the present study, highly dispersed Mo nitride clusters having a composition of Mo₂N are synthesized in zeolite pores by means of a CVD method using Mo(CO)₆ as a precursor. The catalytic properties of the molybdenum nitride catalysts for the HDS of thiophene are compared with that of an intrazeolite molybdenum sulfide catalyst. The molybdenum nitride catalyst shows a more stable thiophene HDS activity than the molybdenum sulfide catalyst. Molybdenum nitride clusters are only partially sulfided even after a prolonged HDS reaction.     

The effect of additives on hydrodesulfurization of dibenzothiophene over bulk molybdenum sulfide: Increased catalytic activity in the presence of phenol

The effect of various additive organic reagents on the activation of MoS₃ as molybdenum sulfide catalyst precursor during hydrodesulfurization reaction of dibenzothiophene was studied. It was found that the presence of phenol or 1-naphthol greatly promoted the activity of the catalyst, while tetralin, 9,10-dihydrophenanthrene, ethylbenzene, and pyridine reagents were found to be detrimental for the activity of the catalyst.     

Nickel and cobalt promoted tungsten and molybdenum sulfide mesoporous catalysts for hydrodesulfurization

High-performance hydrodesulfurization (HDS) catalysts were prepared by incipient wetness impregnation of Ni-Mo(W) and Co-Mo(W) species over siliceous MCM-41 doped with zirconium. Catalysts with W and Mo loadings of 20 and 11 wt%, respectively, and with a Ni or Co loading of 5 wt%, were prepared. As a reference, a nickel-tungsten catalyst supported on a commercial γ-Al₂O₃ with a 5 and 20 wt% metal loadings, respectively has also been prepared. HDS reaction of dibenzothiophene (DBT) under 3.0 MPa of total pressure and with hourly space velocity (WHSV) of 28 h⁻¹ was used to evaluate the activity of these sulfided catalysts. All the catalysts displayed a very good performance in the temperature range of 300-340 °C, with conversions between 49.0% and 92.6%. The Ni promoted catalysts displayed better performances than those of Co promoted catalysts in the HDS of DBT. On the other hand they show different selectivity to hydrogenation, thus, in Ni promoted catalysts, the hydrogenation (HYD) reaction contributes more to the conversion of DBT than Co promoted catalysts where the direct desulfurization (DDS) reaction is more important. The performance of this set of catalysts is similar to that observed with a Ni5W20-Al₂O₃ catalyst in the same range of temperature (300-340 °C). However, the selectivity to the HYD product, CHB, observed with nickel promoted catalysts (Ni5-Mo11 and Ni5-W20) is higher than that found for Ni5W20-Al₂O₃ catalyst probably due to a higher superficial area of the MCM-support and to the presence on the surface of zirconium species, which leading to a better dispersion and lower stacking of the active phases.     

Deep desulfurization: reactions, catalysts and technological challenges

Very stringent regulation in the maximal S content of gas oil have led to an intense activity of research dealing with all the aspects of desulfurization. The design of future processes is based on the identification of the refractory sulfur compounds and the knowledge of their individual reactivity and in the presence of inhibitors, as illustrated in this paper. This knowledge have oriented the research towards new catalysts such as molybdenum sulfide supported on zeolites, combination of sulfide and noble metal catalysts, and molybdenum carbides. Non-catalytic approaches like charge transfer complex were also examined. This paper summarises these various aspects of desulfurization.     

Thioreduction of cyclopentanone and hydrodesulfurization of dibenzothiophene over sulfided nickel or cobalt-promoted molybdenum on alumina catalysts

Two series of sulfided Ni or Co promoted Mo/alumina catalysts, having different Ni or Co loadings, were characterized by their activities for the transformation of cyclopentanone into cyclopentanethiol (flow reactor, 220°C, atmospheric pressure) and for the hydrodesulfurization of dibenzothiophene (flow reactor, 340°C, 3 MPa hydrogen pressure). The addition of the promoter increased significantly the activity of the Mo/alumina catalyst for both reactions, up to a maximum obtained with the catalysts having a (promoter)/(promoter+Mo) molar ratio equal to 0.3–0.4. This increase in activity was due in part to an increase in the hydrogenating properties of the Mo/alumina catalyst. However, an additional modification of the catalyst (basic and nucleophilic properties) must be considered to account for the spectacular effect of the promoter on the rate of the dibenzothiophene direct desulfurization reaction.     

Effect of synthesis conditions on the molybdenum nitride catalytic activity

Properties of the molybdenum nitrides supported on alumina as well as on active carbon has been investigated in the reactions of thiophene and vacuum gas oil (VGO) hydrodesulfurization (HDS) as well as in the reaction of cyclohexene with hydrogen. Supported molybdenum nitride was more active in thiophene hydrogenolysis than sulfided Mo/Al₂O₃. Also in the reaction of VGO HDS alumina supported molybdenum nitride was more active than sulfided counterpart, however Mo₂N supported on active carbon exhibit low activity. In the products of the cyclohexene reaction over supported Mo₂N methyl-cyclopentanes and benzene has been found.     

Kinetic study of the deep hydrodesulfurization of dibenzothiophene over molybdenum carbide supported on a carbon black composite: Existence of two types of active sites

Hydrodesulfurization (HDS) is part of the hydrotreating process, which is an ensemble of several reactions (HDN, HDO, HDS, etc.) taking place simultaneously at the industrial scale. Only sulfur is currently submitted to drastic Europeans specifications and conventional commercial catalysts cannot reach the specifications at low cost. This paper presents the behavior of a potential substitute catalyst tested for the deep HDS of a model molecule such as the dibenzothiophene (DBT). The substitute is molybdenum carbide supported on a mesoporous carbon black composite of surface area 240 m² g⁻¹. A global kinetic study of the deep HDS of DBT (300 ppm S) was performed at 623 K and 5.0 MPa and a global kinetic model was proposed as well as global rate constants were calculated to obtain theoretical plots of concentration versus contact time to compare with the experimental data. The kinetic model and global kinetic orders were confirmed as an acceptable correlation was found between calculated and experimental data. Furthermore, the determination of the global kinetic orders indicated that two types of active sites must be present on the surface in order to explain the observed results.     

A novel preparation-characterization technique of hydrodesulfurization catalysts for cleaner fuels

In the present review of our study, it is shown that the CVD technique using Co(CO)₃NO provides a novel characterization technique of hydrodesulfurization (HDS) catalysts combined with the catalyst preparation. The resultant CVD or designed catalysts are very appropriate for the determination of the CoMoS structure and reaction mechanism due to a selective formation of CoMoS. The CVD technique is also very effective to prepare highly active HDS catalysts, since full promotion of MoS₂ particles can be achieved. The CVD technique can be applied to estimate the surface structure of supported Co(Ni)–MoS₂ catalysts. In addition, the designed catalysts can be used to understand the nature of the support and additives in terms of the intrinsic activity of CoMoS. Thus the information from the CVD technique is unique and invaluable for the development of highly active HDS catalysts.     

Development of new catalysts for deep hydrodesulfurization of gas oil

TiO₂–Al₂O₃ composite supports have been prepared by chemical vapor deposition (CVD) over γ-Al₂O₃ substrate, using TiCl₄ as the precursor. High dispersion of TiO₂ overlayer on the surface of Al₂O₃ has been obtained, and no cluster formation has been detected. The catalytic behavior of Mo supported on Al₂O₃, TiO₂ and TiO₂–Al₂O₃ composite has been investigated for the hydrodesulfurization (HDS) of dibenzothiophene (DBT) and methyl-substituted DBT derivatives. The conversion over the Mo catalysts supported on TiO₂–Al₂O₃ composite, in particular for the HDS of 4,6-dimethyldibenzothiophene (4,6-DMDBT) is much higher than that of conversion obtained over Mo catalyst supported on Al₂O₃. The ratio of the corresponding cyclohexylbenzenes/biphenyls is increased over Mo catalyst supported on TiO₂–Al₂O₃ composite support. This means that the reaction rate of prehydrogenation of an aromatic ring rather than the rate of hydrogenolysis of C–S bond cleavage is accelerated for the HDS of DBT derivatives. The Mo/TiO₂–Al₂O₃ catalyst leads to higher catalytic performance for deep HDS of gas oil.     

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 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.     

Mesoporous silica–alumina as support for Pt and Pt–Mo sulfide catalysts: Effect of Pt loading on activity and selectivity in HDS and HDN of model compounds

The potential of mesoporous silica–alumina (MSA) material as support for the preparation of sulfided Pt and Pt–Mo catalysts of varying Pt loadings was studied. The catalysts were characterized by their texture, hydrogen adsorption, transmission electron microscopy, temperature programmed reduction (TPR) and by activity in simultaneous hydrodesulfurization (HDS) of thiophene and hydrodenitrogenation (HDN) of pyridine. Sulfided Pt/MSA catalysts with 1.3 and 2 wt.% Pt showed almost the same HDS and higher HDN activities per weight amounts as conventional CoMo and NiMo/Al₂O₃, respectively. The addition of Pt to sulfided Mo/MSA led to promotion in HDS and HDN with an optimal promoter content close to 0.5 wt.%. The results of TPR showed strong positive effect of Pt on reducibility of the MoS₂ phase which obviously reflects in higher activity of the promoted catalysts. The activity of the MSA-supported Pt–Mo catalyst containing 0.5 wt.% Pt was significantly higher than the activity of alumina-supported Pt–Mo catalyst. Generally, Pt–Mo/MSA catalysts promoted by 0.3–2.3 wt.% Pt showed lower HDS and much higher HDN activities as compared to weight amounts of CoMo and NiMo/Al₂O₃. It is proposed that thiophene HDS and pyridine hydrogenation proceed over Pt/MSA and the majority of Pt–Mo/MSA catalysts on the same type of catalytic sites, which are associated with sulfided Pt and MoS₂ phases. On the contrary, piperidine hydrogenolysis takes place on different sites, most likely on metallic Pt fraction or sites created by abstraction of sulfur from MoS₂ in the presence of Pt.     

Aromatic reduction properties of molybdenum sulfide clusters in HY zeolite

Molybdenum sulfide catalysts supported on an HY zeolite at various Mo contents were studied. Catalysts were prepared by incipient wetness impregnation with ammonium heptamolybdate solution and calcined without drying. Their reactivity has been evaluated in toluene hydrogenation under typical hydrotreating conditions. Compared to alumina supported catalysts, zeolite supported Mo catalysts are extremely active for aromatics hydrogenation. At low molybdenum loading, molybdenum sulfide phases inside the zeolite show a particularly high intrinsic activity. This activity can be attributed to molybdenum sulfide clusters differing from MoS₂ slabs.     

Effects of carbon on the sulfidation and hydrodesulfurization of CoMo hydrating catalysts

The effects of carbon addition on CoMo catalyst performance for sulfidation and hydrodesulfurization (HDS) were investigated. The carbon-containing catalyst was prepared by impregnation of γ-Al₂O₃ support with NH₃ aqueous solution containing Co(NO₃)₂·6H₂O, (NH₄)₆Mo₇O₂₄·4H₂O and ethylenediamine. The results indicated that the incorporation of proper carbon on CoMo catalyst can improve its HDS performance. The carbon species on the catalyst were characterized by temperature-programmed oxidation and reduction, temperature-programmed desorption of ammonia and ultraviolet-visible diffuse reflectance spectra. Two forms of carbon species were differentiated: one is spread over the catalyst surface, similar to coke formed from reaction; the other interacts with active phase as an intermediate support. The carbon species acting as intermediate support may decrease the interaction of active metals with support, which enhances the sulfidation and HDS activities of CoMo catalyst. This work was presented at the 7th China-Korea Workshop on Clean Energy Technology held at Taiyuan, Shanxi, China, June 26–28, 2008.     

Deactivation of Co---Mo/A12O3 hydrodesulfurization catalysts during a one-year commercial run

A series of Co---Mo catalysts with different Co and Mo loadings were prepared and exposed to a commercial HDS run for a year. From the activity tests using model compounds, the HDS activity of the fresh catalyst was found to increase up to 4.0 Mo atoms nm⁻² with increasing Co---Mo loading. However, no significant difference in the activity was observed in the used catalysts. TEM and EXAFS analyses revealed that the MOS₂ stacks aggregated in the lateral direction but did not grow in the normal direction to the layers during the run.     

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.     

氮化钼深度加氢脱硫催化剂研究进展

介绍了γ-Mo2 N的制备方法 ,包括原料气空速、升温速率、氮化温度和恒温时间对γ-Mo2 N结构及其加氢脱硫活性的影响 ,以及不同的后处理方法和载体对γ-Mo2 N的加氢脱硫活性的影响。阐述了其作为加氢脱硫催化剂的作用机理 ,助催化组分的加入对其催化加氢反应的影响 ,并提出了其实现产业化所应解决的问题