Upgrading of a Moroccan Deasphalted Shale Oil over Mechanical Mixtures of Sulfided Cobalt–Molybdenum and Nickel–Molybdenum Alumina Supported Catalysts

Experimental factorial design was used to study the influence of the different parameters such as the reaction temperature, the hydrogen pressure and the reaction time on the hydroprocessing of a deasphalted shale oil over mechanical mixtures of sulfided cobalt-molybdenum and nickel-molybdenum alumina supported catalysts. It was shown that hydrodesulfurization, hydrodeoxygenation hydrodenitrogenation and hydrodearomatization were more important for high temperature, high pressure and long reaction time operating conditions as generally observed for separate experiments carried under conditions of industrial catalytic tests. The most striking feature was the existence of a promotion effect due to the simultaneous presence of those catalysts mechanical mixtures, i.e. cobalt-molybdenum-rich mixtures are more efficient for hydrodenitrogenation reactions, whereas nickel-molybdenum-rich mixtures exhibit a better activity for hydrodesulfurization and hydrodearomatization reactions, thus confirming first our previous findings in this field concerning the influence of cobalt and nickel promoters and then the general knowledge on the 72 separate behavior of sulfided cobalt-molybdenum and nickel-molybdenum alumina supported catalysts.