Resumo

BALDOVINO-MEDRANO, Víctor-G; CENTENO, Aristóbulo  e  GIRALDO, Sonia-A. EVALUATING THE FUNCTIONALITIES OF NiMo/γ-Al₂O₃B₂O₃ CATALYSTS IN NAPHTHALENE HYDRODEAROMATIZATION AND DIBENZOTHIOPHENE HYDRODESFULFURIZATION. C.T.F Cienc. Tecnol. Futuro [online]. 2010, vol.4, n.2, pp. 91-99. ISSN 0122-5383.

The aim of this work is to contribute to the current understanding on the role of the support's acidic properties in the hydrogenating function of NiMo/γ-Al₂O₃ type catalysts during hydrodearomatization (HDA) and dibenzothiophene (DBT) type molecules desulfurization. NiMo/γ-Al₂O₃-B₂O₃ catalysts of different B₂O₃ (0, 2, 3, 6 and 8 wt.%) contents were prepared and tested in independent and simultaneous naphthalene (NP) HDA and DBT hydrodesulfurization (HDS) reactions. For HDA the catalytic activity as a function of the B₂O₃ content followed a volcano-shape trend, with a maximum around 3 wt.% of B₂O₃. In DBT desulfurization boron was found to have a positive effect in the development of the HYD route of desulfurization possibly due to an increase in total acidity. Conversely, the direct desulfurization route (DDS) was negatively affected by boron addition. The presence of NP during the HDS of DBT was found to have a significant effect in neither total HDS activity nor the HYD/DDS selectivity. The findings in this paper are significant for ultra-deep HDS of heavy oil cuts where increasing in the selectivity to HYD is a must because highly refractory alkyl-DBTs mostly react by this reaction route.

Palavras-chave : NiMo/γ-Al₂O₃; hydrotreatement; direct desulfurization route; HYD function.