Hydrotreatment activities of supported molybdenum nitrides and carbides

The growing need for alternative sources of transportation fuels encourages the development of new hydrotreatment catalysts. These catalysts must be active and more hydrogen efficient than the current commercial hydrotreatment catalysts. Molybdenum nitrides and carbides are attractive candidate materials possessing properties that are comparable or superior to those of commercial sulfide catalysts. This research investigated the catalytic properties of gamma-Al2O3-supported molybdenum nitrides and carbides. These catalysts were synthesized via temperature-programmed reaction of supported molybdenum. oxides with ammonia or methane/hydrogen mixtures. Phase constituents and compositions were determined by X-ray diffraction, elemental analysis, and neutron activation analysis. Oxygen chemisorption was used to probe the surface properties of the catalysts. Specific activities of the molybdenum nitrides and carbides were competitive with those of a commercial sulfide catalyst for hydrodenitrogenation (HDN), hydrodesulfurization (HDS), and hydrodeoxygenation (HDO). For HDN and HDS, the catalytic activity on a molybdenum basis was a strong inverse function of the molybdenum loading. Product distributions for the HDN, HDO, and HDS of a variety of heteroatom compounds indicated that several of the nitrides and carbides were more hydrogen efficient than the sulfide catalyst.