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Catalyst deactivation in hydrotreating of residua: A review

Conference ·
OSTI ID:231127
 [1]
  1. Brigham Young Univ., Provo, UT (United States). Dept. of Chemical Engineering

Hydrotreating of petroleum residua feedstocks involves three important reactions: hydrodesulfurization (HDS), hydrodenitrogenation (HDN), and hydrodemetallization (HDM) for removal of organically-bound sulfur, nitrogen, and metals respectively. Sulfided resid hydrotreating catalysts are deactivated over a period of months by coke, metals and nitrogen compounds. The deactivation process involves a combination of uniform poisoning, pore mouth poisoning and pore blockage by (i) decomposition of organometallic compounds and (ii) buildup of soft coke and its transformation over a period of time to hard, crystalline coke. These problems are minimized by careful selection of guard beds, reactor design, and catalyst design; moreover, it is possible to regenerate coked catalysts with an oxygen burn. An updated overview of the key aspects of residua hydrotreating deactivation, including coke formation chemistry, metals deposition chemistry, catalyst and reactor design, and the use of mathematical models to simulate the deactivation process may be timely. This review focuses on the deactivation of sulfided Mo, CoMo, and NiMo catalysts in hydrotreating of heavy residuum feedstocks. Coke formation, metals deposition, the roles of catalyst and reactor design in minimizing catalyst decline, and the application of modeling to design and prediction of deactivation rates are discussed in this review in the sections which follow. 42 refs., 16 figs., 2 tabs.

OSTI ID:
231127
Report Number(s):
CONF-930364--; ISBN 0-8247-9255-6
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English