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Control of catalytic hydrotreating selectivity with ammonia

Technical Report ·
DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/6708242· OSTI ID:6708242
It was discovered that presence of low concentration of ammonia greatly reduces rate of hydrogenation of an aromatic compound (propylbenzene) on an industrial NiMo/Al[sub 2]O[sub 3] catalyst while it has only a mild inhibiting effect on hydrodenitrogenation (of quinoline). This suggests a way of industrial by reaction conditions of minimizing undesired aromatic hydrogenation during catalytic hydrodenitrogenation Coal liquids contain substantial amounts of a base fraction that consists of hydroxy pyridines, hydroxy indoles and/or hydroxy anilines. No information has been published on the HDN-HDO hydrotreating reactions of a compound in which a hydroxyl (phenolic) group is attached to a heterocyclic N compound. Thus the question has been raised of the extent to which quinoline HDN may or may not reflect the behaviour of such compounds. We have therefore performed a limited study with 8-hydroxy quinoline dissolved in tetralin utilizing a NiMo/Al[sub 2]O[sub 3] catalyst in a packed bed reactor operating at 360 and 385 and 6.9 MPa. We find that the N-heterocyclic ring is hydrogenated first to form an equilibrium mixture with a reaction intermediate identified as 8-OH-1,2,3,4 tetrahydroquinoline. Oxygen is then removed to form the same reaction intermediates we have observed from quinoline alone, but in somewhat different ratios. Therefore, with hydroxy-N-heterocyclic compounds, the OH group will likely be removed rapidly at the beginning.
Research Organization:
Massachusetts Inst. of Tech., Cambridge, MA (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
DOE; USDOE, Washington, DC (United States)
DOE Contract Number:
FG22-89PC89775
OSTI ID:
6708242
Report Number(s):
DOE/PC/89775-1; ON: DE93008384
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English