Hydro-liquefaction of asphaltene catalyzed by molybdenum-nickel bimetallic catalysts in slurry bed

Abstract The aim of this study is to achieve the hydro-liquefaction of asphaltene for the production of liquid fuel. The oil soluble molybdenum catalysts, molybdenum dialkyl dithiophosphate, and nickel carboxylate precursor with different carbon chains, were synthesized. The catalysts were characterized by ICP-OES, TEM and XPS. Their catalytic performance for the hydro-liquefaction of asphaltene to liquid fuels was investigated in a slurry bed reactor by using decalin as hydrogen donor and dispersant. The results show that the bimetal catalytic system composed of molybdenum dialkyl dithiophosphate and caproic acid nickel produces more MoS 2 and NiS x active species. The metal contents of which accounts for 81.8 and 81.0 wt% of the total amount of Mo and Ni, respectively, and thus exhibits the best catalytic performance among the catalysts studied. The liquid yield of the asphaltene hydrogenation over the bimetal catalyst is 84.6 wt%, which is much higher than that over other catalysts, and the coke content is only 8.6 wt% under the conditions of 1000 μg/g of total metal addition, 1:1 Mo/Ni metal mass ratio and 1:1 asphaltene/naphthalene mass ratio. The content of saturated and aromatic components in the liquid products of asphaltene hydrogenation of the bimetal catalyst system is 78.9 wt%, which is a high-quality liquid fuel component.