Hydrodenitrogenation property–reactivity correlation

This work seeks a correlation between the property of a middle distillate feedstock and its reactivity toward hydrodenitrogenation (HDN). Experiments were conducted over 25 widely different feedstocks over sulfided CoMo/Al 2O 3 and NiMo/Al 2O 3 catalysts. It is found that the HDN reactivity is primarily governed by feedstock's nitrogen content. This article is about the relationship between the properties of a refinery middle distillate feedstock and its reactivity toward hydrodenitrogenation (HDN). The HDN experiments were conducted with 12 raw middle distillates over a sulfided CoMo/Al 2O 3 catalyst and with 13 prehydrotreated middle distillates over a sulfided NiMo/Al 2O 3 catalyst. Of the multitude of physicochemical properties, the feed nitrogen content, which usually reflects the heaviness of the feedstock, is a rough indicator of the HDN reactivity. This suggests a self-inhibition effect whose implications are discussed.