Mutual inhibition effect of sulfur compounds in the hydrodesulfurization of thiophene, 2-ethylthiophene and benzothiophene ternary mixture.

The hydrodesulphurization of a model component and equimolar ternary mixture of thiophene, 2-ethylthiophene and benzothiophene over sulphided CoMo/γ-AlO and CoMo/γ-AlO-NbO catalysts were investigated in a fixed bed flow reactor. The catalysts were prepared by incipient wetness impregnation method and characterized by textural characteristics, total acidity and chemical species present on the catalysts surface. The characterization results showed that both CoMo/γ-AlO-NbO and sulphided CoMo/γ-AlO catalysts exhibit a mesoporous structure with cylindrical pores open at both ends, evidenced by the IV type adsorption-desorption isotherm with a H1 hysteresis loop and have an average pore diameter between 3 and 4 nm.