Alumina Supported Vanadium Oxide Catalysts for Residue Hydrotreating

In order to evaluate the role of vanadium in the hydrogenation (HYD) reaction, a series of alumina supported vanadium catalysts were prepared and characterized by SEM, XRD, Raman spectrometry, 51V NMR, XPS, as well as TPR analyses. The catalytic performance of vanadium in HYD of model molecules (naphthalene) and real feedstock (Kuwait atmospheric residue) was studied after sulfidation of the catalysts. It can be concluded that the HYD capabilities of V/Al2O3 catalysts are lower than that of conventional NiMo/Al2O3 catalyst (RefNiMo). The V/Al2O3 catalysts can only facilitate hydrogenation of the first ring of naphthalene, but have little effect on the further hydrogenation of tetralin. Owing to the different forms of metals and sulfur compounds in residue, the weak HYD activity of V/Al2O3 catalysts is able to facilitate the HDM reaction of the residue, albeit with a slight effect on HDS activity.