Novel supports for coal liquefaction catalysts

Abstract

This research is divided into three parts: 1. Evaluation of Alkaline-Earth-Promoted CoMo/Alumina Catalysts in a Bench Scale Hydrotreater, 2. Development of a Novel Catalytic Coal Liquefaction Microreactor (CCLM) Unit, and 3. Evaluation of Novel Catalyst Preparations for Direct Coal Liquefaction. The bench scale hydrotreating results demonstrated that hydrogenation activity could be maintained and at the same time coke formation could be reduced by adding calcium and magnesium to an otherwise finished CoMo/Alumina hydrotreating catalyst. Calcium was more effective, lt was also shown by the temperature programmed desorption of tbutylamine that calcium and barium were effective in eliminating acid sites. Magnesium and beryllium were less effective. Thus, coking of the catalysts seemed to correlate with catalyst acidity while hydrogenation was unaffected. Hydrodenitrogenation was, however, affected adversely by the incorporation of alkaline earth metals into the composition. ' The design and construction of the CCLM unit proceeded through three stages: 1. cold model studies, 2. hydrotreating studies, and finally 3. coal liquefaction studies. This unit employs a novel ebullated bed microreactor which charges only five grams of catalyst. An optimum impeller design was identified during the cold model work, and correlations Run ZTJ02 .