Mechanical Alloying: an Alternative Method to Produce NiMoW HDS Catalysts

Abstract. In this work, quaternary alloys of Ni-Mo-W-Al were prepared by mechanical alloying. In addition, a process of chemical extraction by alkaline leaching was applied to remove aluminum in order to increase the specific surface area (SSA) and to generate porous materials, which were tested in the dibenzothiophene (DBT) hydrodesulfurization (HDS) reaction to determine their catalytic activity and selectivity. This study reveals the impact of the surface and structural modification of quaternary alloys on the catalyst performance and serves as well, as guidance for the design of novel HDS catalysts.   Resumen. En este trabajo, se prepararon mediante aleado mecanico aleaciones cuaternarias de Ni-Mo-W-Al. Adicionalmente, un proceso de extraccion quimica mediante lixiviacion alcalina se aplico para eliminar aluminio con la finalidad de incrementar el area especifica y generar materiales porosos, los cuales fueron activados y evaluados en la reaccion de hidrodesulfuracion (HDS) de dibenzotiofeno (DBT) para determinar su actividad catalitica y selectividad. Este estudio revela el impacto de la modificacion estructural y superficial de las aleaciones cuaternarias sobre el comportamiento de los catalizadores y sirve como guia, ademas, para el diseno de nuevos catalizadores para HDS.