Highly active CoMo HDS catalyst for the production of clean diesel fuels

HY–Al₂O₃-supported CoMo catalysts with a chelating agent and phosphorus for the hydrodesulfurization (HDS) of diesel fractions were prepared. The activity measurements with the prepared catalysts were carried out with straight-run light gas oil feedstocks in a pilot plant under industrial hydrotreating conditions. As a result, Cosmo Oil Co., Ltd. developed a new CoMoP/HY–Al₂O₃ catalyst, C-606A, which had three times higher HDS activity than the conventional CoMoP/Al₂O₃ catalyst. Commercial operations to produce ultra-low sulfur diesel (ULSD) with C-606A have successfully demonstrated its high performance and high stability. This catalyst has an extremely high activity, which enables to achieve <10-ppm sulfur in products in diesel hydrotreater designed to produce 500-ppm sulfur diesel fuels. Mo K-edge EXAFS, TEM and FT-IR of adsorbed NO were performed to investigate the nature of the active sites on the developed catalysts. The results showed that the new catalyst has multiple layers of MoS₂ slabs and the edges of MoS₂ are mainly occupied by Co–Mo–S phases. XPS and FT-IR were used to investigate the sulfiding behavior of Co and Mo in the formation process of the active sites during sulfidation. The results showed that addition of carboxylic acid to the impregnation solution postponed the sulfidation of Co at low temperatures, thereby increasing formation of the Co–Mo–S phase.