Among the known synthesis procedures and reagents for unsupported Ni–Mo–W catalysts, there is no consensus about optimal preparation conditions of their precursors. In the present work, Ni–Mo–W precursors were prepared via three preparation techniques—hydrothermal synthesis, precipitation method and spray drying—after the synthesis of complex compounds in solution. Ni–Mo–W precursors were studied by the XRD analysis, SEM methods, Raman and UV-vis spectroscopies and XPS measurements and used for the hydrotreatment of straight-run gasoil. Precursors prepared by hydrothermal synthesis contain particles with stacked plate shapes, while other methods provide spherical particles. The formation of different amounts of individual molybdates, tungstates or mixed phases such as W_1−xMo_xO₃ possibly doped by Ni was detected. The precipitation technique results in the formation of spheres, with W located at the center and is unavailable for catalysis. The catalytic activity increased when all active metals are available for the feedstock, and a more mixed phase containing Ni, Mo and W is formed. This mixed phase is realized when the synthesis of the Ni–Mo–W precursors is carried out in solution followed by spray drying. The resulting catalyst has 1.2–4 times higher activity than catalysts prepared by other methods.

Hydrotreating is one of the largest processes used in a refinery to improve the quality of oil products. The great demand of the present is to develop more active catalysts which could improve the energy efficiency of the process when it is necessary for heavier feedstock to be processed. Unsupported catalysts could solve this problem, because they contain the greatest amount of sulfide active sites, which significantly increase catalysts’ activity. Unfortunately, most of the information on the preparation and properties of unsupported catalysts is devoted to powder systems, while industrial plants require granular catalysts. Therefore, the present work describes a method for the preparation of granular Ni—Mo—W unsupported hydrotreating catalysts and studies the influence of the Ni/Mo/W atomic ratio on their properties. Catalysts have been prepared by plasticizing Ni—Mo—W precursor with aluminum hydroxide followed by granulation and drying stages. Ni—Mo—W precursor and granular catalysts were studied by X-ray diffraction (XRD), nitrogen adsorption–desorption method, high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM), and thermal analysis. Granular catalysts were sulfided through a liquid-phase sulfidation procedure and tested in hydrotreating of straight-run vacuum gasoil. It was shown that the Ni/Mo/W atomic ratio influenced the formation and composition of active compounds and had almost no influence on the textural properties of catalysts. The best hydrodesulfurization (HDS) activity was obtained for the catalyst with Ni/Mo/W ratio—1/0.15/0.85, while hydrodenitrogenation (HDN) activity of the catalysts is very similar.

The main idea of the investigation was to define testing parameters with the lowest influence of internal and external diffusion on catalytic activity in hydrodesulfurization of dibenzothiophene. Traditional experimental methods were used to determine the conditions for the influence of internal and external diffusion. Simultaneous change of a linear feedstock rate and a catalyst loading at constant weight hour space velocity were used to determine the process temperature (240–260 °C) at which the impact of external diffusion is minimal. Catalytic tests, including the variation of the catalyst fraction size, were carried out to define the conditions with the lowest influence of internal diffusion. It was found that when the catalyst with the fraction size of 0.1–0.25 mm was used, the fluctuation of sulfur conversion was the smallest. Besides, to validate experimental results, the calculations were performed with mass balance equations and expressions used for HDS modeling. The resulting data and catalytic experiments demonstrated that the lowest influence of internal and external diffusion is achieved at a temperature process less than 260 °C and a catalyst fraction of 0.1–0.25 mm.

The present study investigates the effects of heat treatment temperature on the physicochemical properties of bulk granular Ni–Mo–W catalysts. A series of bulk catalysts were synthesized and characterized by X-ray diffraction analysis, low-temperature nitrogen adsorption/desorption, CHNS elemental analysis, Raman spectroscopy, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. To evaluate the catalytic activity in hydrodesulfurization and hydrodenitrogenation reactions, the catalyst samples were tested in hydrotreating of vacuum gasoil. It was found that the bulk granular catalysts calcined at 400°C and lower temperatures were mainly X-ray amorphous. In the samples calcined above 400°C, a nickel molybdate phase was predominant. In these samples, the content of an active sulfide phase after sulfidation was lower than that in the samples prepared from X-ray amorphous oxide precursors. The test data showed that the catalyst calcined at 300ºC exhibited the highest activity in the hydrodesulfurization of vacuum gasoil.

The paper describes in detail the procedure for the preparation of a granular bulk NiMoW catalyst and a supported reference NiMo/Al2O3 catalyst. Mention is made of investigations of the supported and bulk catalysts by various physico-chemical methods (nitrogen adsorption-desorption method, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, TPD-NH3, HRTEM and X-ray diffraction analysis). The experiments to estimate catalytic activity and compare rate constant of hydrodesulfurization of dibenzothiophene using both catalysts have been carried out. It is shown that textural properties of the catalysts significantly differ. The supported catalyst has more developed specific surface area and pore volume than the bulk catalyst. TPD-NH3 showed an increased acidity of the supported catalyst in comparison the bulk catalyst. It is shown by the X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy method that in both samples Mo on the surface is present exclusively in the form of Mo4+ ion. However, the bulk catalyst differs from the supported catalyst in that it contains a larger amount of Ni as part of the active NiMo(W)S phase. The catalytic activity tests demonstrated that the bulk catalyst is more active at 240, 250 and 260°C, it is discovered that the rate constant in hydrodesulfurization of dibenzothiophene for the bulk NiMoW catalyst is twice higher at 240ºC than that of the supported NiMo/Al2O3 catalyst.