Study of Dibenzothiophene Adsorption Over Carbon Nanotube Supported CoMo HDS Catalysts

Adsorption properties of dibenzothiophene (DBT) on a CNT (carbon nanotube) support as well as on CoMoS/CNT and CoMoO/CNT catalysts have been studied. Consecutive desorption of adsorbates was measured by TGA. The commonly used carriers AC (activated carbon), γ-Al2O3, and their supported catalysts (CoMoO/AC, CoMoS/AC, CoMoO/γ-Al2O3, CoMoS/γ-Al2O3) were also subjected to analysis for comparison. The acidic properties of the samples were characterized using the NH3-TPD technique.Correlation between the adsorption of DBT and the acidic properties of the catalysts has been established.It was found that the Co-Mo catalysts in the sulfide state adsorbed much more DBT molecules than the corresponding Co-Mo catalysts in the oxide state. The CoMoS/CNT catalyst exhibited very high HDS activity and selectivity, as compared with the CoMoS/γ-Al2O3 catalysts. Based on the BET data and the high hydrogenolysis/hydrogenation selectivity of the CoMoS/CNT, it was deduced that more than90% of the DBT molecules adsorbed on the CoMoS/CNT with an end-on mode, and the surface of the CoMoS/CNT catalyst was almost fully covered with DBT molecules. Although the AC support had very high surface area and high loading ability, the AC supported CoMoS catalyst showed lower HDS activity,as compared with the CoMoS/γ-Al2O3 catalyst.