PROMOTION EFFECTS IN BULK METAL SULFIDE CATALYSTS

As shown previously, an unsupported Fe-Mo sulfide catalyst is quite se lective toward hydrodenitrogenation (HDN) relative to hydrodesulfuriza tion (HDS). This paper is primarily concerned with the activity enhanc ement of that catalyst. It is shown that the HDN and HDS volumetric ac tivities of the Fe-Mo catalyst can be significantly increased by promo tion with nickel or cobalt. The increased activities are much higher t han those observed with existing commercial catalysts. This was observ ed in tests with a petroleum distillate feed. The overall HDS kinetics are catalyst dependent; theoretical explanations for such a dependenc e are given.