Clay complexes support HDS catalyst.
Hydroprocessing represents a crucial component of petroleum refining operations both in terms of environmental and economic considerations. Regulations concerning maximum amount of sulfur content of gasoline and emissions of sulfur-oxide compounds upon combustion are becoming more and more stringent. One 1994-2000 focus of Argonne National Laboratory (ANL) has been the development of catalysts for hydrodesulfurization (HDS). Typical HDS catalysts are comprised of Co-Mo sulfides or Ni-Mo sulfides on an alumina support. Modification of the pore structure of the support has generated great attention among researchers. Most desulfurization test reactions have used dibenzothiophene (DBT) as the model compound to test various configurations of support material with Co-Mo-S and Ni-Mo-S catalysts. In this testing, the desired product would be biphenyl and hydrogen sulfide (H{sub 2}S). A competing reaction creates cyclohexylbenzene by saturating one aromatic ring prior to desulfurization. Ring saturation requires more costly hydrogen and is not desirable. Fortunately, a more effective catalyst for adding hydrogen at the sulfur site with hydrogenating the aromatic rings has been found. However, this has only been tested on DBT. HDS uses various types of catalysts to add hydrogen to reduce unwanted sulfur compounds. Typically this requires expensive, high-pressure, high-temperature equipment to produce the environmentally friendly low-sulfur fuels. ANL scientists identified several new desulfurization catalysts with improved HDS activity and selectivity. From these new catalysts, it may be possible to achieve HDS processing at lower temperature and pressure. The catalysts used for HDS at ANL are various clay complexes. Natural clays have a history of use in the hydroprocessing industry since they are abundant and inexpensive. ANL's approach is to create synthetic organo-clay complexes (SOCC). An advantage of SOCCs is that the pore size and distribution can be controlled by the synthesis method, and the purity of the synthetic clays is high compared to naturally occurring clay minerals.
- Research Organization:
- Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE
- DOE Contract Number:
- DE-AC02-06CH11357
- OSTI ID:
- 943175
- Report Number(s):
- ANL/CMT/JA-38019; TRN: US201002%%653
- Journal Information:
- NPTO Downstream Proj., Vol. 1/1, Issue 2000
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- ENGLISH
Similar Records
Chemistry of hydrodesulfurization of sulfur heterocyclic compounds
Hydrogenating properties of unsupported transition metal sulfides