CARBON SUPPORTED NI-MO CATALYST - HIGH HYDRODENITROGENATION ACTIVITY AND LOW INHIBITION OF HYDRODESULFURIZATION BY HYDRODENITROGENATION

Four active carbon supported Ni-Mo sulphide catalysts and alumina supported Ni-Mo catalyst Shell 324 were tested in concurrent hydrodesulphurization (HDS) of thiophene and hydrodenitrogenation (HDN) of pyridine at 2 MPa and 280-degrees-C. The various Ni-Mo/C catalysts differed in the pretreatment of the support which was extracted by various solvents before impregnation. The data were also compared with previous results on the same catalysts in HDS of thiophene in the absence of pyridine. The HDN activity of the Ni-Mo/C catalysts was three to five times higher than that of the reference Shell catalyst. The inhibition of HDS by HDN was much lower on the Ni-Mo/C than on the Ni-Mo/alumina samples. Consequently, HDS activity of the Ni-Mo/C catalysts in the presence of pyridine was very high, the best catalyst being 14 times more active than the alumina supported sample.