Hydrodesulfurization, catalyst deactivation

It appears that the high molecular weight species originally present in the feedstock (or formed during the process) are not sufficiently mobile (or are too strongly adsorbed by the catalyst) to be saturated by the hydrogenation components and, hence, continue to condense and eventually degrade to coke. These deposits deactivate the catalyst sites and eventually interfere with the hydrodesulfurization process. Thus, the deposition of coke and, hence, the rate of catalyst deactivation, is subject to variations in the asphaltene (and resins) content of the feedstock as well as the adsorptive properties of the catalyst for the heavier molecules. 

In this paper factors controlling the catalytic activity in the hydrodesulfurization reaction (HDS) are discussed. The SiOa-supported phosphormolybdenum heteropolyacid (HPMo) is used as a model catalyst. Two types of the catalyst deactivation have been shown. The reversible deactivation effect is related with changes in the molybdenum valence, its 0- and 0,S-surrounding and adsorbtion of the S-containing reaction products. The HDS activity is irreversibly changed when the transformation of the catalyst phase composition is carried out ... 

For most reaction systems, the intrinsic kinetic rate can be expressed either by a power-law expression or by the Langmuir-Hinshelwood model. The intrinsic kinetics should include both the detailed mechanism of the reaction and the kinetic expression and heat of reaction associated with each step of the mechanism. For catalytic reactions, a knowledge of catalyst deactivation is essential. Film and penetration models for describing the mechanism of gas-liquid and gas-liquid-solid reactions are discussed in Chap. 2. A few models for catalyst deactivation during the hydrodesulfurization process are briefly discussed in Chap. 4. 

Those deactivation models accounting for both coke and metal sulfides are rather simple. Coke and metals foul residue hydrodesulfurization catalysts simultaneously via different processes, and decrease both intrinsic reaction rate and effective diffusivity. They never uniformly distribute in the commercial reactors. We have examined the activity and diffusivity of the aged and regenerated catalysts which were used at the different conditions as well as during the different periods. This paper describes the effects of vacuum residue conversion, reactor position, and time on-stream on the catalyst deactivation. Two mechanisms of the catalyst deactivation, depending on residue conversion level and reactor position, are also proposed. 

A study on the residue hydrodesulfurization catalysts used in the commercial reactors has suggested that there exists two deactivation mechanism such as metal-controlled deactivation and coke-controlled deactivation, depending on a residue conversion level. In the second and third bed, the deactivation is controlled by metal deposition. However, in the fourth bed, a coke-controlled deactivation appears at a high residue conversion. We also have proposed that there exist two stages in the metal-controlled deactivation. During the first stage, metal sulfides partially poison the active sites and... 

A Catalyst Deactivation Model for Residual Oil Hydrodesulfiirization and Application to Deep Hydrodesulfurization of Diesel Fuel... 

The concept of this model for catalyst deactivation is also applicable to hydrotreating of other petroleum fractions. An example of such applications for the case of deep hydrodesulfurization of diesel fuel is also presented. 

The importance of diffusional limitations on catalyst deactivation has been recognized for more than four decades (ref.1-2). Voluminous studies have been reported on the deactivation of resid hydrodesulfurization (RHDS) catalysts (ref. 3-4). However, most of the experiments were carried out over the catalysts which have a broad pore size distribution This would cause the difficulty in determining the effect of pore size on the deactivation. 

Feed properties and operation conditions determine catalyst life in the residue hydrodesulfurization. In a high conversion operation of vacuum residue, catalyst deactivation due to coke is as important as the one due to metals. Though many researchers have worked on understanding and modelling deactivation of residue hydrodesulfurization catalysts, there has still been a controversy in a coke deactivation mechanism [2, 3]. Very few publications are available discussing an effect of a bed temperature profile on catalyst deactivation in large scale adiabatic commercial reactors. Most of the studies on deactivation of residue hydrodesulfiirization catalysts have been done with small-scale isothermal reactors [2,3,4,5]. The activity tests of the used catalysts were conducted to study the catalyst deactivation in the commercial reactors. This paper also describes an effect of a bed temperature profile on coke deactivation, which was tested in the commercial reactors. 

The activity tests of the catalysts used in the commercial reactors were conducted in the bench-scale reactor. The aged catalyst samples were taken from the second bed through the fourth, where the hydrodesulfurization catalyst was packed. The aged catalysts were Soxhlet-extracted with toluene followed by drying. The activity tests were conducted for the fresh and aged catalysts with Arabian Heavy atmospheric residue at a temperature of 360 °C and pressure of 12 MPa. A detail of the study on the catalyst deactivation in the commercial reactors will be discussed elsewhere [9]. 

Effective solutions to the problems of the vacuum residue hydrodesulfurization unit equipped with the fixed bed reactors, such as a hot spot, pressure-drop buildup, and catalyst deactivation by coke fouling, were discussed. Improving liquid distribution can prevent hot spot occurrence. Dispersing inorganic solids throughout the reactors can control a pressure-drop increase in the first bed. For a high conversion operation, controlling the conversion in each bed can minimize the coke deactivation in the fourth bed. 

It was revealed that RhAJSY showed higher catalytic activity than commercial CoMo/ AI2O3 in the hydrodesulfurization of thiophene. The catalyst deactivation of RhAJSY with... 

Platinum (metal)- and acid (oxide)-catalyzed processes were developed to convert petroleum to high-octane fuels. Hydrodesulfurization catalysis removed sulfur from the crude to prevent catalyst deactivation. The discovery of microporous crystalline alumina silicates (zeolites) provided more selective and active catalysts for many reactions, including cracking, hydrocracking, alkylation, isomerization, and oligomerization. Catalysts that polymerize ethylene, propylene, and other molecules were discovered. A new generation of bimetallic catalysts that were dispersed on high-surface-area (100-400 m /g) oxides was synthesized. 

Reactions carried out in three-phase fixed-bed reactors such as hydrogenation, oxidation, and hydrodesulfurization can be highly exothermic. Such situations require incorporation of an efficient heat removal system in order to avoid hot spots or catalyst deactivation as much as possible [13, 92]. A good knowledge of the packed-bed heat transfer parameters is necessary for the design of the reactor and heat removal system. 

Coke formation is the main reason for catalyst deactivation in catalytic reforming but also in other refinery and petrochemical processes, for example, during catalytic cracking of vacuum gasoil or hydrodesulfurization. The regeneration is conducted in fixed beds by carefully adding small amounts of O2 in N2 at about 400-530 °C. 

In spite of all of the work, the kinetics and mechanism of alkyl-substituted dibenzothiophene, where the sulfur atom may be sterically hindered, are not well understood and these compounds are in general very refractory to hydrodesulfurization. Other factors that influence the desulfurization process such as catalyst inhibition or deactivation by hydrogen sulfide, the effect of nitrogen compounds, and the effect of various solvents need to be studied in order to obtain a comprehensive model that is independent of the type of model compound or feedstock used. 

In a study of the deactivation by coking of an atmospheric residue HDM catalyst, we have been able to obtain coked catalysts almost free from metal deposits in batch reactor and coked catalysts containing small amounts of metal sulfide deposits in continuous flow reactor using a Safaniya atmospheric residue under similar experimental conditions (30). We report in this paper a study of the deactivating effects of the deposits using toluene hydrogenation, cyclohexane isomerization and thiophene hydrodesulfurization reactions. 

In this paper deactivation of the hydrodesulfurization (HDS) catalysts is examined using the results obtained for the thiophene conversion on the supported phosphormolybdenum heteropolyacid as a model catalyst. 

---