Objective The aim is to develop high performance catalysts for deep hydrodesulfurization of diesel.

Method A series of Ni-Mo-W composite oxides with different Mo/(Mo+W) atomic ratios were prepared. The composite oxides were characterized by low temperature N₂ adsorption, XRD, XRF, XPS, H₂-TPR and SEM, and bulk hydrogenation catalysts were prepared using the composite oxides as the precursor. The deep hydrodesulfurization activity of diesel with bulk hydrogenation catalyst and industrial supported catalyst was investigated when the mixed diesel of the second and third atmospheric side-stream was used as the feedstock.

Result The specific surface area of the Ni-Mo-W composite oxides decreased, while the pore size increased, as the Mo/(Mo+W) atomic ratio decreased. Ni-Mo-W composite oxides had the interaction between Ni, Mo and W, which changed the phase, morphology and reducibility of Ni-Mo-W composite oxides. The bulk hydrogenation catalyst synthesized from these Ni-Mo-W composite oxides exhibited ultra high hydrodesulfurization activity and superior aromatics saturation performance. Notably, its hydrodesulfurization activity was 3.95 times higher than that of the industrial supported catalyst.

Conclusion The deep hydrodesulfurization bulk catalyst can meet the needs of high standard clean diesel production.