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Technology

Hydrodesufurization Catalyst

Today, in Japan, the U.S., and EU, the concentration of sulfur in diesel oil is limited to 10 to 15 ppm or less, which is thought of as sulfur-free. Production of sulfur-free diesel oil requires a catalyst to have high desulfurization efficiency. With a combination of its own applied technology for alumina carrier pore control that has been developed since the 1970’s and new technology, Chiyoda developed a unique diesel oil desulfurization catalyst that uses titania carriers.

Correlation between nitrogen removal ratio and H2 consumption

Titania Catalyst Carrier

The conventional understanding is that titania catalysts have a higher activity per unit surface area than alumina catalysts, but increasing the surface area has been a technical challenge. Chiyoda successfully developed a titania catalyst with a larger surface area and using it, developed a highly efficient desulfurization catalyst that can produce sulfur-free diesel oil.

Stable Activity, High Denitrogenation Selectivity, and Low Hydrogen Consumption

This catalyst makes desulfurization possible at a low reaction temperature, where its deactivation becomes slow, providing a longer catalyst life. In addition, this catalyst brings about highly efficient denitrogenation activity and reduced hydrogen consumption at the same time, completely contradicting previous understanding in this field (see the graph). This makes it possible to reduce hydrogen consumption, relative to conventional alumina catalysts, under sulfur-free reaction conditions.

Engineering Prospects and Application Expansion

Chiyoda currently is developing improved titanium catalysts with the aim of further increasing the catalyst performance. Chiyoda is expanding the application of this catalyst not only to diesel oil desulfurization, but also to VGO (Vacuum Gas Oil), FCC-LCO (Fluid Catalytic Cracking Light Cycle Oil), and thermal cracked oil, where the advantages of this catalyst, such as excellent pore control property, high denitrogenation selectivity, and low hydrogen consumption, can be exploited.