Dispersed metal sulfides for slurry phase hydrocracking of vacuum residue

The rapid consumption of conventional light petroleum crude has prompted the increasing need to refine heavier oils like vacuum residue (VR) into lighter distillates. Among the commercially available options, slurry phase hydrocracking (HCK) has been introduced as the most effective way to maximize the conversion of VR into light distillates. In this study, the effects of various operating conditions such as reaction temperature, H2 pressure, catalyst contents, and reaction time on the hydrocracking performance were investigated. This study also includes the effect of H-donor solvents which can act as radical absorber, and confirms that the addition of H-donor solvents could increase the production yield of light distillates with limiting thermal cracking in the course of reaction.

Journal of Catalysis 390 (2020) 117-125. (link).

Fuel 263 (2020) 116620. (link)

Journal of Catalysis 380 (2019) 278-288. (link)

Journal of Catalysis 369 (2019) 111-121. (link)

Journal of Catalysis 364 (2018) 131-140. (link)

Chemical Engineering Journal 314 (2017) 1-10. (link)

Journal of Catalysis 347 (2017) 127-137. (link)

Supported metal phosphides for deep hydrotreating of heavy oils

Considerable concerns for cleaner air and more stringent regulations of the sulfur content of transportation fuels and non-road fuels have put much pressure on the refining industry worldwide to produce cleaner fuels and have motivated much research for the development of new hydrotreating catalysts. Transition metal phosphides have attracted recent attention because they show high activity for hydrodesulfurization (HDS) and hydrodenitrogenaition (HDN) of petroleum feedstocks. Metal phosphide catalysts supported on meso- or micro-porous media were synthesized. Structural and electronic properties were characterized by BET, CO uptake, TPR, ²⁷Al-NMR, and EXAFS spectroscopy.

Applied Catalysis B 250 (2019) 181-188. (link)

Applied Catalysis A 548 (2017) 103-113. (link)

Applied Catalysis B 150 (2014) 647-655. (link)

Zeolites-supported metal phosphides for hydrocracking of polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) into BTX

Polyaromatic hydrocarbon compounds like naphthalene, anthracene and phenanthrene are requierd to upgrade into lighter oil fractions. The hydrocracking is effective to break up the polyaromatic hydrocarbons into lighter fractions using heat and catalysts in the presence of hydrogen. From an economic point of view, high yields of valuable products such as benzene, toluene and xylene (BTX) are desirable. Bifuctional catalytic activity of hydrogenation and cracking is known to be beneficial to increase the yield of BTX. In this work, we investgated the novel Ni₂P catalysts supported on various zeolites to maximize the BTX yield for the naphthalene hydrocraking. The supported Ni₂P catalysts were prepared by temperature programmed reduction (TPR) method, and were characterized using TEM, BET, NH₃-TPD, XRD, EXAFS, and NMR analysis.

Catalysts 10 (2020) 47. (link)

Journal of Catalysis 351 (2017) 67-78. (link)

Catalysis Communications 45 (2014) 133-138. (link)

Transition metal oxides for oxidative desulfurization of heavy oils

There is a stringent need in reducing the sulfur content in light cycle oil (LCO), a poor diesel fuel blending component, due to its high sulfur, nitrogen and aromatic contents. The S compounds in LCO are present in the alkyl derivatives of dibenzothiophene, especially dimethyldibenzothiophene (C2-DBT). Considering the high contents of hetero-atomic compounds in LCO, the conventional hydrotreating catalysts suffer from the competition reactivity of HDS, HDN, HDA, and HCK[1]. Due to the difficulty in HDS, Alternative methods for desulfurization were thus introduced in many studies. Especially oxidative desulfurization (ODS) has been focused extensively due to its several advantages such as mild reaction conditions (ambient pressure and relatively low temperatures), high selectivity and no use of expensive hydrogen

Applied Catalysis B 147 (2014) 35-42. (link)

Fuel Processing Technology 114 (2013) 1-5.(link)

Supported metal phosphides for hydrodeoxygenation of biomass into fuels

Bio-oils produced from the pyrolysis of biomass have a potential as an alternative fuel and petrochemical source and have several advantages over fossil fuels as a clean source of energy. Bio-oils are CO₂-neutral and free of SO_x emission upon combustion. However, bio-oils cannot be directly used as fuel because of high oxygen contents (45~50%), which can cause the poor stability and low volatility of fuel. In this work, our attention is placed on investigating the effect of reaction conditions on the catalytic activities and the structural property of Ni₂P by using X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS). We also use density functional theory (DFT) calculations to examine the possible structure and energetics of the phosphide overlayers on the Ni₂P (0 0 1) surface resulting from H₂O dissociative adsorption.

Topics in Catalysis 58 (2015) 211-218. (link)

Journal of Catalysis 311 (2014) 144-152. (link)

Metal oxides as alternative anodic materials for Li-ion battery

Lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) are considered as one of the most adequate rechargeable power sources for portable electronic devices, electric vehicles, and hybrid vehicles]. The conventional graphite-based anode active materials, however, still face challenges of low gravimetric capacity (372 mAh g^-1) and thus cannot meet the needs of high energy density for modern devices. In order to improve the gravimetric capacity, various materials have been studied to replace the graphite-based system. In particular, transition metal oxides have been recently regarded as promising high-capacity anode materials. Co₃O₄ powders as anode active materials for Li-ion battery are synthesized by a simple precipitation method. Physical properties of the prepared Co₃O₄ are characterized by N₂ physisorption, transmission electron microscopy, and X-ray diffraction. Conversion mechanisms upon the structural changes of Co₃O₄ anode are thoroughly studied by an in situ X-ray absorption fine structure (XAFS) technique

Journal of Power Sources 304 (2016) 189-195. (link)

Journal of Power Sources 274 (2015) 748-754. (link)