“…On the other hand, extensive studies have been made to clarify the deactivation mechanism of the catalyst for HDS of heavy oil (Christensen et al, 1994;Iijima et al, 1997;Gualda & Kasztelan, 1994;Furimsky & Massoth, 1999;Yamazaki et al, 1999;Fujii et al, 2000;Idei et al, 2002aIdei et al, ,b, 2003Ternan et al, 1979;Egiebor et al, 1989;Díez et al, 1990Díez et al, , 1992de Jong et al, 1991de Jong et al, , 1994Hadjiloizou et al, 1992;Zeuthen et al, 1994Zeuthen et al, , 1995Marafi & Stanislaus, 1997;Koide et al, 1999;Seki & Yoshimoto, 2001a,b,c,d;Kumata et al, 2001;Callejas et al, 2001;Higashi et al, 2002;Amemiya et al, 2003;Sahoo et al, 2004;Hauser et al, 2005;Eijsbouts & Inoue, 1994). Based on these studies, it has been suggested that catalyst deactivation is caused by (i) deposition of V and/or Ni sulfides originated from metalloporphyrin compounds in heavy oil (Christensen et al, 1994;Iijima et al, 1997;Gualda & Kasztelan, 1994;Furimsky & Massoth, 1999;Yamazaki et al, 1999;Fujii et al, 2000;Idei et al, 2002aIdei et al, ,b, 2003, (ii) deposition of carbonaceous compounds (Gualda & Kasztelan, 1994;Furimsky & Massoth, 1999;…”