Catalyst for the hydrodesulfurization of residua and heavy crudes

A catalyst for the hydrodesulfurization of residua and heavy crudes produced by the process of:

• a. preparing a support from boehmite in which 5-20 wt % of the total boehmite is peptized with an inorganic acid to form a binder and the remainder of the boehmite and deionized water are added to the binder to form a homogenous paste, and forming said paste into extrudates;
• b. aging said extrudates at a temperature of 20°-25° C. for 12-18 hours, drying said extrudates at a temperature of 100°-120° C. for 2-6 hours, and calcining said dried extrudates at a temperature of 500°-600° C. for 3-5 hours using a heating ramp of 2° C./min, to obtain gamma alumina;
• c. impregnating the gamma alumina with a titanium precursor by the incipient wetness impregnation method using an organic solvent to provide content of 3-6 wt % of titanium;
• d. aging the impregnated support at a temperature of 20°-25° C. for 12-18 hours, followed by drying at a temperature of 100°-120° C. and calcining at a temperature of 400°-500° C., to obtain the anatase phase of titanium on the surface of the gamma alumina;
• and
• e. impregnating the resulting titania/alumina support (TiO2/Al2O3) with a precursor of a metal from group VIB and group VIIIB of the periodic table by spraying or incipient wetness methods, either in simultaneous or sequential form.

A catalyst for the hydrodesulfurization of residua and heavy crudes produced by the process of:

• a. preparing a support by incorporating a titanium precursor into boehmite, peptizing the mixture of boehmite and titanium precursor using an inorganic acid and deionized water to form a homogenous paste, and extruding said paste to form extrudates;
• b. aging the extrudates at a temperature of 20°-25° C. for 12-18 hours, and then said aged extrudates are dried at 100°-120° C. for 2-6 hours, and calcined at 500°-600° C. for 3-5 hours using a heating ramp of 2° C./min to obtain a titania-gamma alumina support;
• and
• c. impregnating said titania-gamma alumina support by spraying or incipient wetness methods, either in simultaneous or sequential form, with a precursor of a metal from group VIB and group VIIIB of the periodic table.