Hydrodesulfurization (HDS) is a technique used in petrochemical industry for the removal of sulfur during the refining of petroleum.  Using dibenzothiophene (DBT) as a target sulfur molecule in the HDS reaction, CoMoS2 catalysts were prepared with various concentrations of lanthanum to investigate the effect of lanthanum metal on the catalytic removal of DBT from solution.  Ammonium tetrathiomolybdate (ATM) was initially synthesized via reflux as a precursor to produce a series of LaxCo1-xMoS2 based catalysts.  The non-doped and lanthanum doped precursors were synthesized and decomposed in a glass lined stainless steel Parr model 4843 at 350°C, using decalin as the solvent and H2 at 160 psi.  The catalysts were characterized using a combination of x-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy-dispersive x-ray spectroscopy (EDX), and x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS).  Kinetic studies were performed using gas chromatography flame ionization detector (GC-FID), to determine the rate of removal of sulfur using aliquots at varying time intervals.  The presence of lanthanum was found to double the rate of the removal of CoMoS2 from (DBT)/sec g (catalyst). A total DBT removal of 36% to 51% was observed for the un-doped and 10-25% lanthanum doped catalysts, respectively.<br/>

Hydrodesulfurization of dibenzothiophene using lanthanum doped CoMoS2 catalysts

253rd National Meeting (2017)

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