SYNTHESIS, CHARACTERIZATION AND EVALUATION OF MOLYBDENUM PHOSPHIDE HYDRODESULFURIZATION CATALYSTS
EMSL Project ID
2093
Abstract
The petroleum refining industry is currently faced with a challenge that is twofold: 1) stringent environmental regulations which require dramatically lower levels of sulfur in transportation fuels, and 2) the decline in the quality of available crude oil feedstocks. Hydrodesulfurization (HDS) of fossil fuels to remove sulfur impurities is presently carried out using oxide-supported molybdenum sulfide catalysts. In addition to promoters such as cobalt and nickel, which increase the activity of the catalysts, additives such as phosphorus are often incorporated into commercial hydrotreating catalysts. The role of phosphorus as an additive is not well understood and the formation of a molybdenum phosphide phase on the catalyst surface cannot be ruled out. The goal of this research is to prepare a series of silica-supported molybdenum phosphide catalysts (MoP/SiO2), to characterize them with X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and to measure their catalytic activities for the HDS of the organosulfur compound thiophene (C4H4S).
Project Details
Project type
Exploratory Research
Start Date
2001-01-08
End Date
2004-01-12
Status
Closed
Released Data Link
Team
Principal Investigator
Team Members