High acidic vacuum gas oil (VGO) decreases product quality and causes corrosions. To overcome these problems, catalytic esterification was utilized for the deacidification of VGO. A series of Al2O3-supported ZnO catalysts, undoped and doped with Fe2O3, were prepared and characterized. The results showed that both the ZnO/Al2O3 and the ZnO/Al2O3 doped with Fe2O3 had good deacidification effects with glycol for the 4th VGO. The deacidification rate reached 95.1% and 97.6%, respectively, under mild conditions (catalysts 2.5 wt%, glycol dosage 4.0 wt%, 250 °C and 1 h). The naphthenic acids were transferred into ester, which was proved by the Fourier Transform Infrared (FT-IR) and 1H nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR).Reusability of the catalyst for the esterification reaction was also studied. It was found that the deacidification rate was still over 90% after six reruns.
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