(560ea) Preparation, Characterization, and Performance Evaluation of High Performance Mesoporous Materials Based Hydrodesulfurization Catalysts

A series of nickel and cobalt incorporated and molybdenum impregnated mesoporous materials based MCM-41 (metal-MCM-41) type of catalysts for hydrodesulfurization (HDS) was prepared by hydrothermal synthesis method. Catalysts with Si/Al = 10, Si/Mo = 10 and Si/Co and Si/Ni as 50 were prepared, characterized, and evaluated for HDS activity. Then molybdenum was impregnated on Ni-MCM-41 and Co-MCM-41 by incipient wetness impregnation method. MCM-41 based catalysts were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Brunauer−Emmett−Teller (BET) for surface area, pore volume, pore-size distribution, and temperature programmed reduction (TPR) techniques. Hydrodesulfurization activity of the prepared catalysts at atmospheric pressure and at different temperatures was evaluated for model compounds such as thiophene and benzothiophene in pulse reactor. HDS of dibenzothiophene as a model compound, dissolved in dodecane, was also performed in a batch autoclave reactor at high pressure and temperature. The results of catalysts evaluation for the hydrodesulfurization activity indicate that molybdenum impregnated metal-MCM-41 showed better performance as compared to commercial catalyst. Highest conversion, per mole of metal in hydrodesulfurization of thiophene and benzothiophene, was achieved in the case of Mo-CoMCM-41 catalyst. The results of catalyst performance were also compared with a sample of NiMo-Y zeolite (similar to the commercial catalyst) catalyst prepared in the laboratory.