Design and Evaluation of a Co–Mo-Supported Nano Alumina Ultradeep Hydrodesulfurization Catalyst for Production of Environmentally Friendly Diesel Fuel in a Trickle Bed Reactor

Abstract

In the present work, a nanocatalyst, γ-Al 2 O 3 nanoparticle-supported CoMo, was prepared experimentally and evaluated through a hydrodesulfurization (HDS) process for removing dibenzothiophene (DBT) from diesel fuel systematically in a trickle bed reactor (TBR). The results of the prepared catalyst characterization tests (scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction (XRD), XRD phase quantification, and Brunner−Emmett−Teller) showed good distribution of active metals (CoMo), difference in surface morphology, and high dispersion of active metals. The catalyst exhibited good metal−support interactions without impacting the surface area significantly. A fully automated TBR reactor was used to evaluate the activity of the prepared catalyst in the HDS process at ranges of operating conditions: temperatures (250−350 °C), pressures (6−10 bar), liquid hourly space velocities (LHSV) (1−3 h −1 ), and the activity of the prepared catalyst were compared to a commercial catalyst based on Co−Mo/γ-alumina. The results showed an obvious enhancement in the HDS process using the homemade nanocatalyst compared to the commercial catalyst. It has also been found that an increase in temperature led to an increase in the conversion from 68.77 to 91.57%, a little positive effect on conversion when pressure was increased, and a significant decrease in conversion (from 91.57 to 75.58%) as LHSV was increased. A kinetic model was developed for the HDS process to estimate kinetic parameters and apply the parameters in reactor design. The developed model showed that the DBT concentration in diesel fuel can be reduced significantly, 3000−240 ppm, at the optimum experimental conditions.

Nanoparticle catalyzed hydrodesulfurization of diesel fuel in a trickle bed reactor: experimental and optimization study

“…It was found that running the HDS process at low diesel fuel space velocity promoted the DBT conversion on Co-Mo on gamma-alumina nanocatalyst in the HDS of diesel fuel. 67 For Fig. 5, it was observed that the increase of space velocity resulted in a signicant decrease in DBT conversion at all operating pressures and temperatures.…”

“…[64][65][66] The FEME, XRD and BET analyses of the prepared catalyst were described elsewhere. 67 4.1.1 Inuence of reaction temperature on the conversion of DBT. For HDS reactions, it is well known that the operating temperature has a signicant impact on DBT conversion.…”

Adsorption-catalytic method for reducing the content of sulphur compounds in gas condensate diesel fuel

“…However, DFs obtained from gas condensates often do not meet modern standards not only in terms of the cetane number (CN), but also in terms of the content of sulfur compounds (SC). Traditionally, the reduction of the SC content in DFs in industry is carried out using hydrotreating processes [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13].…”