Support effects on the chemical property and catalytic activity of Co-Mo HDS catalyst in sulfur recovery

Effects of carbon nanotubes (CNT) and alumina (γ-Al2O3) supports on the catalytic activities of hydrodesulfurization (HDS) process over Co-Mo catalyst have been studied. XRD results indicated that the main active phases in CNT and γ-Al2O3 supported Co-Mo catalysts are MoO2 and MoO3, respectively. The TPR results reveal that the reduction peak temperatures of the active species on CNT supported Co-Mo catalyst is lower than those on alumina supported Co-Mo catalyst, indicating that the CNT supports favor the reduction of active species. Catalytic evaluation results displayed that the sulfur content in the reaction products on the CNT supported Co-Mo catalyst is lower than that on the alumina supported Co-Mo catalyst if the HDS reaction was carried out at a temperature above 583 K.