Unsupported trimetallic Ni(Co)-Mo-W sulphide catalysts prepared from mixed oxides: Characterisation and catalytic tests for simultaneous tetralin HDA and dibenzothiophene HDS reactions

One-pot solvothermal preparation of the porous NiS2//MoS2 composite catalyst with enhanced low-temperature hydrodesulfurization activity

The simple preparation of mesoporous NiS2//MoS2 composite catalyst through a one-pot solvothermal method is presented. The improvement of the specific surface area (220 m2/g) and the construction of the porous structure are realized by this method in the case of no support. The organics acts as a microscopic binder contribute to uniform stacking of MoS2 with NiS2 clusters. The composite structure including NiS2 and MoS2 was obtained (proved by XRD, XPS, TEM, IR, UV-vis and RAMAN) and changed the microelectronic environment of the active metal surface (DFT calculation). The mesoporous NiS2//MoS2 catalyst (Ni1Mo1-200) showed an excellent hydrodesulfurization performance of dibenzothiophene (DBT conversion: 78 % at 260 °C) and a high ratio of direct desulfurization pathway (SDDS/HYD = 16.6) at a low reaction temperature. By combining the characterization and theoretical calculation results, the advantages of this NiS2//MoS2 composite structure in synergistic catalysis was further confirmed.

Optimal Choice of the Preparation Procedure and Precursor Composition for a Bulk Ni–Mo–W Catalyst

Among the known synthesis procedures and reagents for unsupported Ni–Mo–W catalysts, there is no consensus about optimal preparation conditions of their precursors. In the present work, Ni–Mo–W precursors were prepared via three preparation techniques—hydrothermal synthesis, precipitation method and spray drying—after the synthesis of complex compounds in solution. Ni–Mo–W precursors were studied by the XRD analysis, SEM methods, Raman and UV-vis spectroscopies and XPS measurements and used for the hydrotreatment of straight-run gasoil. Precursors prepared by hydrothermal synthesis contain particles with stacked plate shapes, while other methods provide spherical particles. The formation of different amounts of individual molybdates, tungstates or mixed phases such as W1−xMoxO3 possibly doped by Ni was detected. The precipitation technique results in the formation of spheres, with W located at the center and is unavailable for catalysis. The catalytic activity increased when all active metals are available for the feedstock, and a more mixed phase containing Ni, Mo and W is formed. This mixed phase is realized when the synthesis of the Ni–Mo–W precursors is carried out in solution followed by spray drying. The resulting catalyst has 1.2–4 times higher activity than catalysts prepared by other methods.

Unsupported Ni—Mo—W Hydrotreating Catalyst: Influence of the Atomic Ratio of Active Metals on the HDS and HDN Activity

Hydrotreating is one of the largest processes used in a refinery to improve the quality of oil products. The great demand of the present is to develop more active catalysts which could improve the energy efficiency of the process when it is necessary for heavier feedstock to be processed. Unsupported catalysts could solve this problem, because they contain the greatest amount of sulfide active sites, which significantly increase catalysts’ activity. Unfortunately, most of the information on the preparation and properties of unsupported catalysts is devoted to powder systems, while industrial plants require granular catalysts. Therefore, the present work describes a method for the preparation of granular Ni—Mo—W unsupported hydrotreating catalysts and studies the influence of the Ni/Mo/W atomic ratio on their properties. Catalysts have been prepared by plasticizing Ni—Mo—W precursor with aluminum hydroxide followed by granulation and drying stages. Ni—Mo—W precursor and granular catalysts were studied by X-ray diffraction (XRD), nitrogen adsorption–desorption method, high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM), and thermal analysis. Granular catalysts were sulfided through a liquid-phase sulfidation procedure and tested in hydrotreating of straight-run vacuum gasoil. It was shown that the Ni/Mo/W atomic ratio influenced the formation and composition of active compounds and had almost no influence on the textural properties of catalysts. The best hydrodesulfurization (HDS) activity was obtained for the catalyst with Ni/Mo/W ratio—1/0.15/0.85, while hydrodenitrogenation (HDN) activity of the catalysts is very similar.

Three-dimensionally ordered macro-mesoporous CoMo bulk catalysts with superior performance in hydrodesulfurization of thiophene

The introduction of surfactants during the fabrication of hydrodesulfurization catalysts could not only tune the microstructure but also promote the dispersion of active components. In this work, CoMo bulk catalysts with the hierarchical structure of three-dimensionally ordered macro-mesopores were successfully fabricated by using a colloidal crystal template with the addition of PEG 400 and/or F127 surfactants. The obtained samples were characterized by various techniques, and the possible mechanism of the structure formation was also discussed. The characterization and evaluation results reveal that the addition of surfactants can promote the formation of the mesopores (3-4 nm) inside the macroporous walls of these bulk catalysts, which is essential for the increase of catalyst surface area, and the active sites for reaction. The CoMo-PF-1 catalyst displayed superior catalytic performance for thiophene hydrodesulfurization with the thiophene conversion of 99.4% under 1 MPa at 360 °C, which is much higher than that (77.8%) at 0.1 MPa. This result is even comparable to our previous report with the thiophene conversion of 99.2% over the 3DOM CoMo catalyst under 3 MPa.

Synthesis, Characterization, and Hydrotreating Activity of NiW Presulfurized Catalysts Prepared via a Tetrathiotungstate-Intercalated NiAl LDH

A tetrathiotungstate-intercalated NiAl layered double hydroxide (LDH) was synthesized and then calcined under N₂ at various temperatures to prepare a series of NiW presulfurized hydrotreating catalysts. Upon calcination, WS₄ ^2- in the interlayer decomposes into WS₃ and then WS₂, releasing sulfur to sulfurize nickel in the sheets. The property and activities of catalysts for hydrodesulfurization (HDS) of dibenzothiophene and hydrodearomatization (HDA) of tetralin are dependent on the calcination temperature. At 300 °C, WS₃ can be well maintained, offering highly active hydrogenation sites S₂ ^2- and superior HDA activity. As the temperature increases up to 500 °C, WS₃ converts into WS₂, while nickel sulfides migrate to the edge of WS₂ to form NiWS phases with high HDS activity. LDH-based presulfurized catalysts can achieve fully sulfurized and well-dispersed tungsten species even at high tungsten loadings and can retain more WS₃ even at high temperatures because of the peculiar properties of LDHs. Therefore, they show better HDS and superior HDA activities over an oxidic NiW LDH-based catalyst (LDO) and an alumina-supported NiWS presulfurized catalyst (NiWS/Al₂O₃). The optimized catalyst shows 1.59 and 1.05 times higher HDS activity than LDO and NiWS/Al₂O₃ while 2.05 and 1.77 times higher HDA activity than LDO and NiWS/Al₂O₃, respectively. It also shows better HDS and HDA activity for a real diesel than a NiCoMoW/Al₂O₃ commercial catalyst.