Hydrodeoxygenation of Phenol Over Hydrotreatment Catalysts in their Reduced and Sulfided States

ABSTRACT

The influence of the composition of reduced CoMo, NiMo and NiW catalysts on the catalytic performance in hydrodeoxygenation (HDO) of phenol has been investigated. γ-Al2O3 and TiO2 were used as supports. Different activity orders were obtained over γ-Al2O3 and TiO2 supported catalysts reflecting the critical role of the support. NiMo catalyst supported on γ-alumina proved to be the most active followed by the CoMo catalyst supported on titania. CoMo and NiMo lab made catalysts were proved to be more active compared to a reduced industrial CoMo catalyst supported on γ- alumina. An increase of phenol conversion in the range 52-230% was obtained at 350°C.

A series of CoMo, NiMo and NiW catalysts supported on TiO2 was also prepared using the “Equilibrium - Deposition - Filtration” (EDF) method. The application of this technique, instead of the classical impregnation, increased considerably the activity of the CoMo catalyst supported on titania (48% increase of phenol conversion at 350°C).

The most active lab catalysts (wet impregnated NiMo catalyst supported on alumina, EDF CoMo catalyst supported on titania) and the industrial CoMo catalyst were evaluated after sulfidation for simultaneous HDO of phenol and HDS of dibenzothiophene. These catalysts exhibited comparable HDO activities while the first one proved to be superior in HDS. Overall, taking into account the significantly higher loading of the industrial catalyst in the supported elements compared to the lab made catalysts, the latter seems to be quite promising, even in the frame of a co-processing strategy.

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