For the oxygen removal from coke oven gas (COG) the catalytic activity of commercial catalysts CoMo/γ‐Al2O3 and NiMo/γ‐Al2O3 was evaluated after a sulfidation pretreatment and compared to the Pt/γ‐Al2O3 reference catalyst. Elemental analysis and temperature‐programmed desorption showed that the oxidation reaction and the associated oxidation of active sulfidic centers is the main cause of deactivation despite the presence of other reductants, such as hydrogen. This approach could allow an appropriate sulfide catalyst to be designed for oxygen removal corresponding to the typical COG composition in the presence of H2S.

The following orientational study uses a factorial experimental design (DoE) strategy to determine the influence of different process parameters on the catalytic removal of oxygen traces (4500–9000 ppmv O2) from coke oven gas by commercial Pt/γ‐Al2O3. Along this line, various experiments have been performed from 1 up to 11 bar and 150–250 °C with a gas hourly space velocity between 20 000 and 25 000 h−1. The statistical analysis demonstrates that the applied temperature and pressure have a significant impact on the oxygen removal process. Experiments using gas mixtures with additional 350 ppmv H2S indicate a deactivation of the catalyst with a 66 % oxygen conversion at 250 °C and 6 bar. The close agreement between predicted and experimental data highlights the efficient approach for optimizing the oxygen removal from coke oven gas utilizing DoE strategies.