HYDROGENATION AND HYDROCRACKING OF A MODEL LIGHT CYCLE OIL FEED .1. PROPERTIES OF A SULFIDED NIMO HYDROTREATING CATALYST

A synthetic model light cycle oil feed containing 40% w/w 1-methylnaphthalene, dimethyl disulfide, and n-butylamine in n-heptane has been treated under hydrogen on a sulfided NiMoP/Al2O3 catalyst. Reference conditions were a hydrogen pressure of 28 atm, temperature of 400-degrees-C, and a liquid hourly space velocity (LHSV) of 1 m3 h-1 m-3 cat. Kinetic data for the hydrogenation of the first and second aromatic rings of 1-methylnaphthalene have been determined. Under these reference conditions, the thermodynamic equilibrium for the hydrogenation of the first ring is reached before any hydrocracking occurs. The hydrocracking yield is about 12%. The main products of hydrocracking are, on the one hand, the isomerization of the methyltetralins into C11-alkylindans and the opening of their saturated ring into C11-alkylbenzenes and, on the other hand, the demethylation and methylation of the aromatic into naphthalene and dimethylnaphthalenes. The kinetic parameters of the main hydroconversion reactions are determined according to a simplified first-order kinetic scheme.