Influence of Fuel Type on Ultrasonic-assisted Combustion Synthesis of NiMo/Al2O3 Catalyst for Hydrodesulfurization of Thiophene

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

1 Chemical Engineering Faculty, Tarbiat Modares University, Iran

2 Department of Chemical and Materials Engineering, Buein Zahra Technical University, Buein Zahra, Qazvin, Iran

Abstract

Various organic fuels, including citric acid, ethylene glycol, glycine and urea, were used to synthesize alumina-supported NiMo catalysts via the solution combustion method and applied in thiophene hydrodesulfurization at atmospheric pressure. The as-synthesized catalysts were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), Field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), Energy dispersive X-ray analysis (EDX), Nitrogen adsorption/desorption, and Temperature program reduction (TPR). The results showed that the type of organic fuel has a considerable effect on the phase structure, surface morphology and reducibility potential due to the different amounts of heat and gaseous products released during the combustion reaction. Also, a relatively homogeneous distribution of the metals over support was obtained in all samples. The highest activity was obtained over a sample synthesized with citric acid as fuel due to its significant proper-ties, such as high surface area, considerable surface pore structure, and weakened metal-support interaction, compared with other fuel additives. Activity assessment of the prepared catalyst by ethylene glycol and glycine demonstrated that 100% abatement of thiophene was achieved at 105 °C and 30 min.

Keywords


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