Hydrotreatment of heavy oil from a direct coal liquefaction process on sulfided Ni–W/SBA-15 catalysts

A series of Ni–W catalysts supported on SBA-15 with different pore sizes were prepared by incipient wetness impregnation method and characterized by N2 adsorption–desorption and X-ray diffraction. The hydrogenation of heavy oil (distillation temperature: 320–340 °C) derived from the direct coal liquefaction process using Shengli coal in the presence of sulfided Ni–W/SBA-15 catalysts with different pore sizes were evaluated at 400 °C and initial H2 pressure of 5.0 MPa. The results showed that the catalyst preparation method and the pore size of the support had a significant influence on the Ni/W crystallite size, hydrodenitrogenation (HDN) and hydrodearomatization (HDA) activities of coal-derived heavy oil. The larger pore could cause the Ni–W/SBA-15 to form larger Ni–W crystallite. The catalysts with largest pore in the range studied displayed highest HDN and HDA activities for upgrading of the coal-derived heavy oil.

► Ni-W/SBA-15 catalysts with different pore sizes were prepared and characterized.
► Hydrogenation of heavy oil from the direct coal liquefaction process was evaluated.
► The catalyst preparation method significantly affects hydrogenation activities.