Catalytic hydrotreatment of Illinois No. 6 Coal-derived naphtha: The removal of individual nitrogen and sulfur compounds over MoS2 and Mo2N Original Research Article

The conversion of individual nitrogen and sulfur compounds present in Illinois No. 6 coal-derived naphtha was determined as a function of reactor residence time. The major nitrogen compounds in the naphtha are anilines, quinolines and pyridines. The major sulfur compounds are thiols, sulfides and thiophenes. The conversion of the heteroatom (nitrogen and sulfur) compounds are different and depend on the heteroatom compound class. Substituted anilines are the most difficult to convert amongst the nitrogen compounds while substituted thiophenes and benzothiophenes are the most difficult to convert for the sulfur compounds; this applies for both MoS2 and Mo2N catalysts. Mo2N is more active than MoS2 for the conversion of pyridine and quinoline compound classes. However, MoS2 is more active for the conversion of the aniline compound class. Hydrogenation, at least partly, precedes Csingle bondS bond breaking for the hydrodesulfurization of thiophene over both MoS2 and Mo2N. The effect of additional methyl groups in decreasing the conversion of thiophenes is large for MoS2 but relatively small for Mo2N. Deviations from first-order kinetics are seen for the conversion of thiophenes, probably due to product inhibition of the reaction rate.