Simultaneous hydrodesulfurization, hydrodeoxygenation, and hydrogenation with molybdenum carbide Original Research Article

Simultaneous hydrodesulfurization (HDS), hydrodeoxygenation (HDO), and hydrogenation (HYD) of model compounds were studied under high pressure conditions with a β-Mo2C catalyst. The β-Mo2C (hexagonal close packed) was synthesized by the temperature programmed reaction and characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), CO chemisorption, and BET surface area measurements. Simultaneous HDS, HDO, and HYD were observed with minimal deactivation of Mo2C for up to 30 ppm of sulfur, 2000 ppm of oxygen, and 5 wt % cumene for more than 80 h. A noble metal catalyst (Pt/γ-Al2O3) deactivated immediately upon addition of sulfur. The reactivity results on β-Mo2C indicate there are two types of sites on the surface when simultaneous HDS, HYD and HDO are occurring. The first type of site is a molybdenum carbide site which is active for HYD and HDO. The second site is a molybdenum carbosulfide site which is active for HYD, HDS, and HDO. The results of this study may be applied not only to the refining of petroleum feedstocks, but also to the upgrading of synthetic fuels such as coal-derived liquids.