Effect of boron on the efficiency of MoCo catalysts supported on alumina for the hydrodesulfurization of liquid fuels

•To utilize its high acidity, alumina-MoCo catalysts was doped with boron.•AlMoCoB5% showed enhanced hydrodesulphurization of dibenzothiophene.•The mechanism was proposed based on the characterization results and GC-SM. The effect of boron content on hydrodesulphurization (HDS) activity was investigated under different optimized conditions. γ-Al2O3 was loaded with MoCo and then doped with boron. The obtained materials, i.e. AlMoCoB0%, AlMoCoB2%, and AlMoCoB5% were characterized by N2-physisorption, X-ray diffraction, temperature programmed analysis by reduction and desorption, Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, a scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, and thermogravimetric analysis. The catalytic activity of the prepared catalysts was evaluated for the HDS of dibenzothiophene (DBT) using a Parr batch reactor at T = 300 °C and under 50 bar hydrogen partial pressure. The textural properties of the prepared catalysts were enhanced by introducing the boron. For example, the BET surface area of AlMoCoB5% was 206 m2/g which is higher than that of both AlMoCoB0% and AlMoCoB2%. The acidity and dispersion AlMoCoB5% were 0.77 and 2.46 (mmol/g), respectively, which increase its HDS activity. The boron enhanced the particle dispersion, leading to an improvement in the catalytic activity of the MoCo catalysts in the elimination of sulfur content. Experimental factors (such as temperature, pressure, the dosage of the catalysts and contact time) were investigated and optimized using a central composite design. The results revealed that the HDS was improved by increasing the temperature, pressure, and catalyst dosage. The optimum contact time was found to be 6 h with a dosage of 0.6 g. The experimental results indicated that AlMoCoB5% has the highest HDS activity, achieving more than 98% of sulfur removal, which is below the allowed sulfur level. The excellent catalytic activity of the AlMoCoB5% catalyst in the HDS of DBT is particularly useful for the ultradeep HDS of fuels.