Dibenzothiophene hydrodesulfurization over ternary metallic NiMoW/Ti-HMS mesoporous catalysts

Ternary sulfided NiMoW/Ti-HMS solids with varying Si/Ti ratio (e.g., 20, 40, 60) and with Ti incorporated via a post-synthesis method were evaluated in the hydrodesulfurization of dibenzothiophene. Ti-incorporation improved the catalytic activity of the samples up to 2.4 times compared to the sample without titanium and to a reference industrial catalyst. The performance was mainly associated with differences observed in the stacking and length and the dispersion of the active phase, this effect being stronger for the NiMoW/HMS-Ti 20 sample. The latter displayed the highest catalytic activity and sulfur removal via hydrogenation. [Display omitted] •Catalytic activity depends on the coordinatively unsaturated Mo4+ and W4+ sites.•HDS optimum efficiency is reached for the NiMoW/HMS-Ti 20 catalyst.•A preference for the DDS route was observed for all catalysts.•Reaction pathway was related to the promotional effect of Ni species