CHARACTERIZATION OF SEVERAL GENERATIONS OF NiMo HYDROPROCESSING CATALYSTS EMPLOYED IN THE SAME HYDROTREATER

This work details the chemical characterization of four NiMo/Al2O3 hydroprocessing generation catalysts (1979-1986, 1993-1998, 2003-2008 and 2008-2011) employed to perform hydrodesulfurization (HDS) of diesel fractions in the same hydrotreater of a Brazilian refinery. The basic differences are the quality of the feedstocks and the HDS experimental conditions. Samples were characterized by X-ray fluorescence, X-ray diffraction, 13C CP-MAS NMR, elemental analysis, loss of volatiles, specific surface area and average pore volume. The amount and variety of foreign elements deposited on the catalys...