The thioresistance of platinum/aluminum borate catalysts in aromatic hydrogenation

Abstract

Naphthalene and benzothiophene dissolved in n-hexadecane were used as model compounds to simulate the aromatics and sulfur compounds in diesel fuels for hydrogenation activity and sulfur tolerance tests. The aluminum borate (AB x) supports were prepared with coprecipitation method. Pt/aluminum borate (Pt/AB) catalyst had a higher thioresistance than Pt γ- Al 2O 3 catalyst due to the higher acidity of AB x support than γ-Al 2O 3 support. When the aluminum boron atomic ratio (Al/B) increased, the acidity of AB support increased, and the thioresistance of Pt/AB catalyst increased, too. The catalysts Pd/Abx had higher hydrogenation activity and sulfur resistance than Pd γ- Al 2O 3 , but lower than Pt/ABx catalysts. When boron was added to the Pt γ- Al 2O 3 catalyst, it improved the sulfur tolerance of catalyst due to increasing the acidity of supports. Experimental results indicated that more sulfur compound could be adsorbed at lower temperature and higher sulfur concentration, although parts of the sulfur compounds were reversible adsorbed.