Characterization and hydrocracking of gas oil on sulfided NiW/MCM-48 catalysts

A series of mesoporous molecular sieve MCM-48 with SiO2/Al2O3 ratios of 5, 25, 50, 75 and 125 was prepared and used as support for nickel and tungsten. The NiW/MCM-48 catalysts were prepared using the incipient wetness method. The hydrocracking of petroleum gas oil was carried out in a high-pressure shaking reactor at reaction temperature of 450 °C, contact time of 90 min and catalyst to sample ratio of 0.04 (w/w). In all prepared samples, the catalyst activity and properties were improved with increasing alumina content and found that maximum values of a total conversion and liquid product (total distillate fuels) were obtained at silica/alumina molar ratio of 50. The catalysts were characterized by number of techniques and measurements, such as TPD–TGA acidity, TGA thermal stability, BET surface area, pore volume, pore size, XRD, SEM and TEM. Product distributions were also presented and discussed.