Correlation of the deactivation of CoMo/Al2O3 in hydrodesulfurization with surface carbon species

The deactivation of CoMo/Al2O3 in the hydrodesulfurization (HDS) of dibenzothiophene (DBT) was investigated under laboratory conditions that allowed the accelerated deposition of coke on the catalyst. The coke deposition was enhanced at low H2 pressures and when naphthalene was added to the reaction solution. Characterization of deactivated catalysts by elemental analysis (EA) and temperature-programmed oxidation (TPO) identified two types of carbonaceous species deposited on the catalysts, the reactive and the refractory species. The refractory deposit, or hard coke, was a major contributor to the deactivation and, therefore, the amounts of hard coke present on the catalyst determined the overall activity. A correlation was established in this study between the activity and the amounts of deposited hard coke based on the results of accelerated deactivation treatment. A similar relation was also observed between the two parameters when the catalyst was used in an industrial process for long periods. The above findings suggest that the reaction periods of two different scales, i.e., in laboratory and industrial processes, can be correlated with each other based on the amounts of hard coke when coking is the major mechanism of catalyst deactivation.