MOLYBDENUM OXYCARBIDE HYDROCARBON ISOMERIZATION CATALYSTS - CLEANER FUELS FOR THE FUTURE

The catalytic behaviour of the molybdenum oxycarbide catalyst, synthes ized in situ from molybdenum oxide, is compared with that of a support ed bifunctional platinum catalyst for the isomerization of n-octane. T he main products are the mono- and di-methyl isomers, and almost no ar omatics are observed. It is shown that a high selectivity to the isome r products(> 90%) can be obtained over the molybdenum catalyst, even c lose to the thermodynamic equilibrium (i.e., at high conversion (75%)) , while this is not possible over the platinum catalyst. Furthermore, the high resistance of the molybdenum catalyst to sulphur and nitrogen catalyst poisons typically found in crude oil is shown, and the isome rization of n-heptane over a supported molybdenum oxycarbide (MoO3/SiC ) catalyst is demonstrated.