HYDRODESULFURIZATION OF THIOPHENE OVER UNSUPPORTED MOLYBDENUM CARBIDE

Abstract

Hydrodesulfurization (HDS) converts organic sulfur compounds to H2S and desulfurized organic compounds in the presence of H2. The most typical HDS catalysts consist of MoCo supported on γ-alumina. Catalyst precursors are in the oxide form and are sulfided prior to use. It is believed that the Mo component of MoCoS/Al2O3 is the active species for HDS while the Co component serves as a chemical and/or structural promoter [1-4]. To understand better the nature of the HDS catalyst, Mo/Al2O3 catalysts without Co were studied extensively by Massoth and co-workers. In particular, oxidized, prereduced or presulfided molybdenum samples were investigated as catalsyts for HDS of thiophene [5]. Here we present the results of thiophene HDS over unsupported molybdenum carbide, and we compare these results to those obtained on a presulfided Mo/Al2O3 catalyst. To the best of our knowledge, precarburized molybdenum has never been studied as a HDS catalyst. © 1985.