Hydrotreating Catalysis

Springer. - 1996. Book series: Catalysis -Science and Technology. - Volume 11, p. 1-269 Hydrotreating or hydroprocessing refers to a variety of catalytic hydrogenation processes which saturate unsaturated hydrocarbons and remove S, N, O and metals from different petroleum streams in a refinery. These processes represent some of the most important catalytic processes and the annual sales of hydrotreating catalysts represent close to 10% of the total world market for catalysts. Hydrotreating processes in petroleum refining were introduced more than 50 years ago for the removal of sulfur and nitrogen. The sulfided cobalt-molybdenum catalyst, together with its near relatives, is still widely used. Two oil crises made it clear that pretroleum reserves are not inexhaustible and we shall be compelled to exploid less satisfactory sources with high sulfur and nitrogen making hydrotreating even more important. This review is particularly timely for the reason that only recently has a detailed understanding of process chemistry and catalyst structure been obtained. The authors concentrate on the catalytic chemistry of the processes, dealing in some detail with the structure of the most important types of catalysts and the relationship of structure to activity.