Organic Sulfur Hydrogenation Catalyst Testing Service – Accredited Activity, Selectivity and Durability Evaluation for Global Refining and Petrochemical Markets
Our internationally accredited laboratory delivers a specialist organic sulfur hydrogenation catalyst testing service that provides petroleum refiners, petrochemical producers, catalyst manufacturers, research institutes and chemical‑process licensors worldwide with the independent, traceable data they need to evaluate the catalytic activity, selectivity, sulfur‑removal efficiency, long‑term stability and regeneration behaviour of their hydrodesulfurization and hydrotreating catalysts. Every test is performed under the rigorous framework of ISO/IEC 17025, and each report bearing the ILAC mark is unconditionally accepted by regulatory authorities, notified bodies and supply‑chain partners in all major economies. The detection of hydrogenation conversion catalyst for organic sulfur is central to the production of clean fuels that meet the Euro V, the Euro VI and the IMO 2020 sulfur‑cap specifications, and our organic sulfur hydrogenation catalyst testing service employs high‑pressure micro‑reactors, gas‑chromatography–sulfur‑chemiluminescence detection, temperature‑programmed desorption and a battery of fresh‑and‑spent catalyst characterisation techniques to generate the legally robust, defensible performance data that underpin catalyst selection, reactor‑loading optimisation and the prediction of the cycle‑length of the hydroprocessing unit.
Product Samples We Regularly Subject to Organic Sulfur Hydrogenation Catalyst Testing
The high‑pressure fixed‑bed micro‑reactors, the simulated‑distillation gas chromatographs, the sulfur‑chemiluminescence and the atomic‑emission detectors, the nitrogen‑physisorption analysers, the X‑ray photoelectron spectrometers and the transmission‑electron microscopes in our facility accommodate a broad variety of hydrotreating catalysts and their model‑feed and real‑feed test charges. The following categories represent the most frequently tested items:
- CoMo and NiMo alumina‑supported hydrodesulfurization catalysts – the oxidic and the pre‑sulfided extrudates, the spheres and the trilobe‑shaped particles that are used in the naphtha, the diesel and the vacuum‑gas‑oil hydrotreaters to remove the thiophenes, the benzothiophenes and the dibenzothiophenes
- CoMo and NiMo catalysts promoted with the phosphorus, the boron or the zeolites – the modified formulations that offer the enhanced activity for the sterically hindered sulfur compounds such as the 4,6‑dimethyl‑dibenzothiophene, evaluated for the deep‑desulfurization performance
- Bulk‑metal and the unsupported hydrotreating catalysts – the high‑activity Ni‑Mo‑W and the Co‑Mo‑W sulfide catalysts that are used in the severe hydroprocessing of the heavy‑gas‑oils and the residuum feedstocks
- Guard‑bed and the arsenic‑trapping catalysts – the high‑porosity, the high‑surface‑area materials that protect the downstream hydroprocessing catalysts from the organic‑sulfur, the silicon and the heavy‑metal poisons
- Spent, regenerated and the rejuvenated hydrotreating catalysts – the samples that have been removed from the commercial reactors, analysed for the residual activity, the carbon‑and‑sulfur deposition, the metal‑contaminant profile and the surface‑area loss to determine the remaining useful life and the optimal regeneration strategy
- Model‑sulfur compounds and the real refinery feedstocks – the individual thiophenes, the benzothiophenes and the dibenzothiophenes, and the straight‑run gas‑oils, the coker‑gas‑oils and the cycle‑oils that are used as the test feeds for the catalyst activity evaluation
Catalytic Activity and Selectivity Evaluation – Organic Sulfur Hydrogenation Catalyst Testing Using High‑Pressure Micro‑Reactor Systems
- Determination of the hydrodesulfurization activity and the relative volume activity by the micro‑reactor test according to the internal validated protocol and the principles of the ASTM D4627 (Standard Test Method for Evaluating the Relative Activity of Hydrotreating Catalysts) and the relevant industry standards: a fixed bed of the pre‑sulfided catalyst is loaded into a high‑pressure, isothermal, down‑flow tubular reactor, and a model‑sulfur feed or a real refinery distillate is passed over the catalyst at a controlled liquid‑hourly‑space‑velocity, the hydrogen‑to‑oil ratio, the temperature and the total pressure. The sulfur content of the feed and the liquid product is measured by the sulfur‑chemiluminescence or the atomic‑emission detection, and the first‑order or the Langmuir‑Hinshelwood rate constant and the relative volume activity – the ratio of the rate constant of the test catalyst to that of a standard reference catalyst – are reported. This organic sulfur hydrogenation catalyst testing service provides the objective, quantitative data that the refiner uses to compare the performance of the different catalyst grades and to rank the suppliers.
- Deep‑desulfurization and the removal of the refractory organic sulfur compounds – the 4,6‑dimethyl‑dibenzothiophene conversion according to the internal validated protocol: a synthetic feed spiked with the individual sterically hindered dibenzothiophene is processed over the catalyst, and the conversion of the model compound and the product distribution – the hydrogenation‑pathway versus the direct‑desulfurization‑pathway selectivity – are determined, providing the mechanistic insight into the catalyst's ability to achieve the ultra‑low‑sulfur diesel specification of 10 mg/kg or lower.
- Hydrodenitrogenation and the hydrodeoxygenation activity of the catalyst for the feeds that contain the organic nitrogen and the oxygen compounds: the simultaneous removal of the organic sulfur, the nitrogen and the oxygen species is evaluated, and the inhibition effect of the nitrogen compounds on the hydrodesulfurization activity is quantified, providing the data that the process‑engineer uses to design the catalyst‑bed layering and the inter‑stage ammonia‑scrubbing.
- Evaluation of the catalyst activity as a function of the operating temperature, the pressure and the hydrogen‑to‑oil ratio: the hydrodesulfurization conversion is measured at the multiple temperatures, pressures and hydrogen‑partial‑pressures, and the apparent activation energy, the reaction‑order with respect to the hydrogen and the sulfur compound, and the optimum operating window are determined, supporting the development of the kinetic model for the reactor simulation.
Catalyst Stability, Deactivation and Regeneration Studies – Organic Sulfur Hydrogenation Catalyst Testing for the Life‑Cycle Management
- Accelerated deactivation and the time‑on‑stream stability testing according to the internal validated protocol: the catalyst is operated under the constant conditions for an extended period – typically 500 hours to 2 000 hours – and the activity decline and the product‑sulfur increase are monitored, providing the deactivation‑rate data that the refiner uses to predict the end‑of‑run, to estimate the catalyst life and to plan the catalyst change‑out. This organic sulfur hydrogenation catalyst testing service includes the periodic analysis of the coke and the metal deposits on the catalyst.
- Resistance to the metal‑contaminant poisoning – the nickel, the vanadium and the arsenic: the feed is spiked with the known concentrations of the organometallic compounds, and the loss of the hydrodesulfurization activity and the change in the product selectivity are measured, certifying the catalyst's tolerance to the heavy‑metal poisons that are present in the residuum and the cracked feedstocks.
- Evaluation of the coke‑formation and the carbon‑deposition on the catalyst by the temperature‑programmed oxidation and the thermogravimetric analysis: the spent catalyst is heated in an oxygen‑containing atmosphere, and the mass‑loss profile due to the combustion of the coke is recorded, providing the data that the regeneration‑engineer uses to design the controlled‑burn regeneration procedure and to avoid the catalyst sintering.
- Regenerability and the multi‑cycle rejuvenation testing: the deactivated catalyst is subjected to the controlled oxidation to remove the coke, followed by the re‑sulfiding and the re‑evaluation of the activity, and the activity recovery and the surface‑area retention after the multiple regeneration cycles are reported, supporting the decision on the catalyst reuse and the ultimate disposal.
Physicochemical Characterisation of the Fresh, Spent and Regenerated Catalysts – Organic Sulfur Hydrogenation Catalyst Testing for the Structure‑Activity Correlation
- Determination of the BET surface area, the pore‑volume and the pore‑size distribution by the nitrogen physisorption according to ASTM D4567 (Standard Test Method for Single‑Point Determination of Specific Surface Area of Catalysts and Catalyst Carriers Using Nitrogen Adsorption) and ISO 9277: the textural properties of the catalyst are measured, and the loss of the surface area and the pore‑plugging due to the coke and the metal deposition are quantified, providing the direct evidence of the deactivation mechanism.
- X‑ray photoelectron spectroscopy and the transmission‑electron microscopy for the determination of the active‑phase dispersion, the sulfidation degree and the metal‑sulfide stacking: the oxidation state of the molybdenum, the tungsten, the cobalt and the nickel on the catalyst surface, the degree of the sulfidation, and the morphology and the dispersion of the MoS₂ or the WS₂ slabs are determined, and the data are correlated with the measured hydrodesulfurization activity to guide the catalyst‑synthesis optimisation.
- Temperature‑programmed desorption of the ammonia and the hydrogen sulfide for the acidity and the sulfur‑capacity measurement: the catalyst is saturated with the ammonia or the hydrogen sulfide, and the amount of the gas that is desorbed as a function of the temperature is measured, providing the total‑acidity, the acid‑site distribution and the sulfur‑storage capacity that are the important performance parameters for the hydrotreating catalysts.
- Determination of the carbon, the hydrogen, the nitrogen and the sulfur content of the spent catalyst by the combustion elemental analysis: the mass percentages of the coke‑carbon, the residual sulfur and the nitrogen on the spent catalyst are measured, providing the mass‑balance data that are used to calculate the coke‑yield and to validate the regeneration‑process effectiveness.
Report Acceptance and Global Regulatory Compliance for Organic Sulfur Hydrogenation Catalyst Testing
All measurements performed within our organic sulfur hydrogenation catalyst testing service are executed under the fully accredited scope of our ISO/IEC 17025 quality management system. Each test report that carries the ILAC mark is therefore automatically recognised by regulatory authorities, notified bodies, customs offices and supply‑chain partners in all major economies. For petroleum refiners, petrochemical producers, catalyst manufacturers and hydroprocessing‑technology licensors anywhere in the world, the report constitutes legally robust, internationally accepted evidence that the hydrodesulfurization activity, the selectivity, the long‑term stability, the deactivation kinetics and the physicochemical characteristics of the organic sulfur hydrogenation catalyst have been determined in accordance with the applicable ASTM, ISO and customer‑specified methods. The documentation can be directly used to support the catalyst‑selection decision, the reactor‑loading optimisation, the process‑guarantee validation, the issue of inspection certificates according to EN 10204 or equivalent national standards, and the resolution of commercial and technical disputes concerning the performance and the life‑cycle behaviour of any hydrotreating catalyst.
