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Product compositions from catalytic hydroprocessing of low temperature coal tar distillate over three commercial catalysts

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Abstract

Catalytic hydroprocessing of low temperature coal tar (LTCT) <360 °C distillate was performed over commercial Ni–W/γ-Al2O3, Ni–Mo/γ-Al2O3 and Co–Mo/γ-Al2O3 catalysts in a fixed-bed reactor to produce clean liquid fuel. Experimental feedstock and liquid products were divided into twelve groups based on converted material with the molecules and saturation levels to investigate the effect of catalysts on reaction network of the main compounds in feedstock by GC/MS analysis. Meanwhile, the influence of catalyst component on the product composition like group composition, distribution of carbon number, heteroatom removal, gaseous and oil properties was also investigated. The experimental results showed that phenols were mainly transformed into cycloalkanes and alkylbenzene, while alkyl-naphthalenes were converted to phenyl cycloalkanes and phenyl olefins. In addition, total carbon number in a slightly decreasing tendency. The Ni–W/γ-Al2O3 catalysts showed a higher hydrogenation activity and intermediate carbon number (C9–C16) selectivity, whereas the higher HDN and ring open activity was observed using Ni-Mo/γ-Al2O3 catalyst. The highest percentage of sulfur removal (about 97.8 %) was reached over the Co-Mo/γ-Al2O3 catalyst. Besides, methane was the predominant constituent in the light hydrocarbon gaseous product. And the properties of raw LTCT could be considerably upgraded after hydrotreatment.

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Abbreviations

LTCT:

Low temperature coal tar

GC/MS:

Gas chromatograph/mass spectrometer

LHSV:

Liquid hourly space velocity

NIST:

Institute of Standards and Technology

LCA:

Long-chain alkanes

SCA:

Short-chain alkanes

MCA:

Monocyclic alkanes

BCA:

Bicyclic alkane

AC:

Alkenes and cycloalkenes

AB:

Alkylbenzenes

PCA:

Phenyl cycloalkanes

PO:

Phenyl olefins

AN:

Alkylnaphthalenes

P:

Phenols

OC:

Other oxygen containings

FAB:

Fluorenes, Anthracenes, Biphenyls

HDO:

Hydrodeoxygenation

HDS:

Hydrodesulfurization

HDN:

Hydrodenitrogeneration

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Acknowledgments

We gratefully acknowledge the financial support of the Overall Science and Technology Innovation Project of Shaanxi province (2014KTCL01-09) and Research Fund for the Doctoral Program of Higher Education of China (20126101120013) and Scientific Research Project of the Department of Education of Shaanxi province (14JF026, 15JF031).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Chemical Engineering, Northwest University, 229# Taibai Road, Xi’an, 710069, People’s Republic of China

    Wengang Cui, Menglong Niu, Dong Li & Wenhong Li

  2. Shaanxi Research Center of Chemical Engineering Technology for Resource Utilization, Xi’an, 710069, People’s Republic of China

    Wengang Cui, Menglong Niu, Dong Li, Jing Qiao & Wenhong Li

  3. Shaanxi Coal and Chemical Industry Group Co., Ltd., Xi’an, 710065, People’s Republic of China

    Huaan Zheng & Shengjun Zhang

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  1. Wengang Cui
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Correspondence to Wenhong Li.

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Cui, W., Zheng, H., Niu, M. et al. Product compositions from catalytic hydroprocessing of low temperature coal tar distillate over three commercial catalysts. Reac Kinet Mech Cat 119, 491–509 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11144-016-1068-8

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