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Experimental and Kinetics Studies of Aromatic Hydrogenation in a Two‐Stage Hydrotreating Process using NiMo/Al 2 O 3 and NiW/Al 2 O 3 Catalysts
Author(s) -
OwusuBoakye Abena,
Dalai Ajay K.,
Ferdous Deena,
Adjaye John
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
the canadian journal of chemical engineering
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.404
H-Index - 67
eISSN - 1939-019X
pISSN - 0008-4034
DOI - 10.1002/cjce.5450840509
Subject(s) - hydrodesulfurization , sulfidation , space velocity , catalysis , hydrodenitrogenation , chemistry , flue gas desulfurization , hydrocarbon , heteroatom , oil sands , sulfur , nuclear chemistry , metallurgy , materials science , organic chemistry , asphalt , composite material , ring (chemistry) , selectivity
In this work, hydrogenation of aromatic compounds in light gas oil derived from Athabasca bitumen was carried out using a single‐ and two‐stage hydrotreating processes. Experiments were performed in a trickle‐bed reactor using two catalysts namely NiMo/Al 2 O 3 and NiW/Al 2 O 3 . NiMo/Al 2 O 3 was used in the first stage for nitrogen and sulphur containing heteroatoms removal whereas NiW/Al 2 O 3 was used in the second stage for saturation of the aromatic rings in the hydrocarbon species. Temperature and liquid hourly space velocity (LHSV) were varied from 350‐390°C and 1.0‐1.5 h −1 , respectively, while pressure was maintained constant at 11.0 MPa for all experiments. Results from single‐stage were compared with those from two‐stage process on the basis of reaction time. Kinetic analysis of the single‐stage hydrotreating process showed that HDA and HDS activities were retarded by the presence of hydrogen sulphide that is produced as a by‐product of the HDS process. However, with inter‐stage removal of hydrogen sulphide in the two‐stage process, significant improvement of the HDA and HDS activities were observed.