KINETIC STUDIES OF NAPHTHA HYDRODESULFURIZATION

Abstract

Hydrodesulfurzation involves the removal of sulfur from petroleum products by converting organic sulfur into H2S. The presence of sulfur in petroleum products is undesirable due to variety of reasons, namely foul odour, corrosion, SO2 pollution on combustion and poisoning of catalyst (Pt. reforming catalyst) and most product specifications specify the maximum permissible limit of sulfur content. Some of the important sulfur compounds in.petroleum in decrea-sing order of reactivity are : mercaptans (RSH), disulfide, (RSSI4), sulfides (RS), thiophene, benzo-thiophenes etc. In studies of hydrOdesulfurization of organic sulfur compounds for hydrocarbon processing, thiophenic compounds-are often-used as the model compounds because of their lesser reactivity. The physicochemical charac- terization of the catalyst and its properties have been reviewed by SchW and Gates [49] and Topsoe et al. [52], while kinetic aspects were recently reviewed by Vrinat and deMourgues [55]. The majority of the kinetic studies were carried out under conditions far from those practiced in industrial operation and over a too narrow range of variables