Laboratory evaluation of four coal liquefaction catalysts prepared from modified alumina supports

A blank alumina catalyst support was modified by deposition of TiO2, ZrO2 or carbon, and cobalt molybdate catalysts prepared from the modified supports were evaluated in a laboratory coal liquefaction microreactor unit. Performance was referenced to a commercial CoMo/alumina catalyst, Amocat 1A, which was derived from the same blank support. All catalysts possessed very similar pore structures, and thus the effect of pore structure was practically eliminated from the comparison. The effects of support modification on catalyst performance were found to be minimal.