Product Description
Ni-Mo-W Series Hydrotreating Catalysts
Product Overview
The Ni-Mo-W Series Hydrotreating Catalysts represent the latest generation of hydrodesulfurization (HDS) and hydrodenitrogenation (HDN) catalysts engineered specifically for light distillate refining. These catalysts enable conversion of organic sulfur compounds, nitrogen compounds, and unsaturated hydrocarbons in feedstocks through catalytic hydrogenation, helping refineries meet increasingly stringent environmental regulations and growing demand for high-quality refined products.
Built on advanced modified alumina support technology combined with CDS-optimized geometric design, the series offers low bulk density, high specific surface area, minimal pressure drop, high active component dispersion, and low hydrogen consumption—enabling deeper impurity removal while maintaining operational efficiency and cost-effectiveness. The portfolio includes three product variants, each tailored to specific feedstock characteristics and processing objectives.
Core Technical Features
Modified Alumina Support Technology
At the core of our catalysts is an advanced modified alumina support engineered to provide the optimal foundation for active metal dispersion and catalytic performance. The modification process enhances alumina surface properties, creating a more favorable environment for anchoring active metal components while maintaining excellent thermal and hydrothermal stability under typical hydrotreating conditions. The precisely tuned pore structure balances active site accessibility with mechanical integrity, enabling efficient diffusion of reactant molecules and removal of reaction products, while moderated metal-support interaction prevents excessive anchoring that could reduce catalytic activity.
CDS-Optimized Geometric Design
Our catalysts feature CDS-optimized external dimensions and geometry, representing a significant advancement in catalyst particle design. The CDS optimization methodology considers particle shape, diameter, length-to-diameter ratio, and surface morphology to achieve the optimal balance between catalytic activity and hydraulic performance. This carefully engineered particle geometry reduces bed pressure drop, allowing either lower energy consumption for recycle gas compression or higher throughput within existing reactor constraints, while enhanced flow distribution uniformity minimizes channeling and improved mechanical robustness reduces fines generation for longer catalyst service life.
High Dispersion of Active Components
Through advanced impregnation and activation technologies, our Ni-Mo-W series catalysts achieve exceptionally high dispersion of active metal components on the support surface, maximizing the number of accessible active sites per unit mass of active metal. The active sulfided phases—molybdenum sulfide, tungsten sulfide, promoted by nickel or cobalt—are distributed as uniform nanoscale particles across the support surface, ensuring a greater proportion of metal atoms are exposed and available for catalytic reactions rather than being trapped in bulk phases, leading to more predictable reactor performance and reliable product quality control.
Low Hydrogen Consumption Characteristic
Hydrogen is one of the most valuable resources in a refinery, and our catalyst series is specifically engineered to minimize hydrogen consumption while maintaining high HDS and HDN activity. This efficiency is achieved through precise control of active site composition and distribution, optimizing selectivity for targeted HDS and HDN reactions while minimizing unwanted side reactions such as excessive aromatic saturation and hydrocracking. The low hydrogen consumption provides significant economic benefits, reduces heat release from exothermic hydrogenation reactions, and contributes to more stable reactor temperature control and reduced thermal stress on equipment.
Product Series & Selection Guide
Co-Mo Type (Cobalt-Molybdenum)
The Co-Mo type catalyst features cobalt and molybdenum as primary active metals, optimized specifically for hydrodesulfurization performance and ideally suited for hydrofining high-sulfur, low-nitrogen naphtha feedstocks. Cobalt, as a promoter, enhances adsorption of sulfur-containing compounds on the catalyst surface and facilitates cleavage of carbon-sulfur bonds, giving the Co-Mo catalyst superior HDS activity compared to nickel-promoted alternatives when processing sulfur-rich feedstocks. The Co-Mo type is also well-suited for aviation kerosene hydrodesulfurization, with selective HDS activity that preserves critical fuel properties like smoke point.
Ni-Mo Type (Nickel-Molybdenum)
The Ni-Mo type catalyst utilizes nickel and molybdenum as primary active components, offering a balanced profile of hydrodesulfurization and hydrodenitrogenation activity recommended for low-sulfur, high-nitrogen naphtha hydrofining applications. Nickel as a promoter provides stronger hydrogenation capability compared to cobalt, essential for breaking the stronger carbon-nitrogen bonds found in nitrogen-containing compounds, and also contributes to olefin saturation for improved product stability and color. The Ni-Mo type represents a versatile solution for refineries processing feedstocks with moderate sulfur and significant nitrogen content.
W-Mo-Ni-Co Type (Tungsten-Molybdenum-Nickel-Cobalt)
The W-Mo-Ni-Co type represents the most advanced formulation in our product series, incorporating all four active metals to achieve exceptional hydrodenitrogenation and olefin saturation performance superior to binary metal formulations. The inclusion of tungsten adds a new dimension of catalytic activity, particularly for refractory nitrogen compounds difficult to remove with conventional catalysts, while the combination of nickel and cobalt promoters provides both strong hydrogenation capability and efficient C-S bond cleavage. This formulation is particularly well-suited for hydrofining high-nitrogen naphtha feedstocks where deep denitrogenation is critical.
Superior Performance
Exceptional Hydrodesulfurization Activity
The Ni-Mo-W series catalysts deliver outstanding hydrodesulfurization performance, effectively converting a wide range of organic sulfur compounds—including mercaptans, sulfides, disulfides, thiophenes, and benzothiophenes—into hydrogen sulfide, ensuring refined products meet the most stringent sulfur content specifications. The high activity allows refineries to operate at either higher space velocities for increased throughput or at lower reaction temperatures for extended catalyst life and reduced energy consumption, with a particular advantage in processing feedstocks containing refractory sulfur compounds challenging to remove with conventional catalysts.
Enhanced Hydrodenitrogenation Performance
With formulations specifically optimized for nitrogen removal, our catalyst series provides excellent hydrodenitrogenation activity, effectively neutralizing nitrogen compounds—particularly basic nitrogen species that are well-known poisons for downstream processing catalysts. Our catalysts facilitate conversion of organic nitrogen compounds including pyridines, quinolines, pyrroles, and indoles into ammonia through hydrogenation and C-N bond cleavage reactions, ensuring treated product meets strict nitrogen content requirements and protecting downstream catalyst investments.
Excellent Olefin Saturation Capability
Unsaturated hydrocarbons including olefins and diolefins can cause product stability issues and gum formation during storage, reducing product quality and value. Our catalyst series provides effective olefin saturation, converting reactive unsaturated compounds into stable paraffinic and naphthenic hydrocarbons. This capability is especially important for naphtha streams used as reformer feed, as excessive olefins can lead to increased coke formation on reforming catalysts, shortening service life and reducing yields. The Ni-Mo and W-Mo-Ni-Co formulations offer superior hydrogenation activity for olefin saturation applications.
Downstream Catalyst Protection
Beyond direct product quality improvement, our hydrotreating catalysts serve as an essential protective barrier for downstream processing catalysts. By removing sulfur, nitrogen, and other contaminants from feedstocks, these catalysts prevent poisoning and deactivation of expensive downstream catalysts such as reforming catalysts, hydrocracking catalysts, and isomerization catalysts. The economic value of this protection is substantial, as downstream catalysts represent significant capital investment and premature deactivation can lead to costly unplanned shutdowns. Our Ni-Mo-W series catalysts ensure downstream processes operate reliably within design parameters, maximizing return on catalyst assets.
Applications
Our Ni-Mo-W series catalysts find broad application across light oil refining processes. Primary uses include light oil hydrofining of straight-run and cracked naphtha streams requiring sulfur and nitrogen removal, and reformer feed pretreatment where strict purity requirements must be met to protect sensitive reforming catalysts and maintain high yields of high-octane reformate and aromatic products.
The Co-Mo type is particularly well-suited for aviation kerosene hydrodesulfurization, where selective sulfur removal preserves critical fuel properties like smoke point, freezing point, and thermal stability. For naphtha used as feedstock in steam crackers and petrochemical processes, our catalyst series provides the deep purification necessary to meet demanding petrochemical-grade specifications.
Selection Guide
Selecting the appropriate catalyst depends on several key factors related to feedstock characteristics and processing objectives. The primary consideration is the relative concentrations of sulfur and nitrogen in the feedstock:
- High sulfur, low nitrogen naphtha: The Co-Mo type is preferred, offering superior HDS activity with minimal hydrogen consumption.
- Low sulfur, high nitrogen naphtha: The Ni-Mo type is recommended, providing the necessary HDN activity.
- High nitrogen content naphtha: The W-Mo-Ni-Co type delivers the highest HDN performance.
Processing objectives also influence selection. For aviation kerosene desulfurization, the Co-Mo type provides optimal balance of HDS activity and product property preservation. For reformer feed pretreatment requiring both deep HDS and HDN, the Ni-Mo or W-Mo-Ni-Co type should be selected based on nitrogen content.
Existing unit constraints such as reactor pressure, hydrogen availability, and design space velocity also play a role. Higher-pressure units can achieve deeper impurity removal with any catalyst type, while lower-pressure units may benefit from the higher intrinsic activity of the W-Mo-Ni-Co formulation. For complex applications or variable feedstocks, we recommend consultation with our catalyst specialists.
Technical Specifications Overview
The following provides an overview of the key technical characteristics of the Ni-Mo-W series catalysts. Specific values are available upon request and are tailored to individual product formulations and application requirements.
Co-Mo Type (Cobalt-Molybdenum)
- Active Metals: Cobalt (Co), Molybdenum (Mo)
- Support Material: Modified alumina
- Particle Design: CDS-optimized geometric design
- Core Attributes: Low bulk density, high specific surface area, low pressure drop, high active component dispersion, low hydrogen consumption
- Key Advantage: Excellent hydrodesulfurization (HDS) activity
- Primary Application: High-sulfur, low-nitrogen naphtha hydrorefining; aviation kerosene HDS
Ni-Mo Type (Nickel-Molybdenum)
- Active Metals: Nickel (Ni), Molybdenum (Mo)
- Support Material: Modified alumina
- Particle Design: CDS-optimized geometric design
- Core Attributes: Low bulk density, high specific surface area, low pressure drop, high active component dispersion, low hydrogen consumption
- Key Advantage: Good hydrodenitrogenation (HDN) activity
- Primary Application: Low-sulfur, high-nitrogen naphtha hydrorefining
W-Mo-Ni-Co Type (Tungsten-Molybdenum-Nickel-Cobalt)
- Active Metals: Tungsten (W), Molybdenum (Mo), Nickel (Ni), Cobalt (Co)
- Support Material: Modified alumina
- Particle Design: CDS-optimized geometric design
- Core Attributes: Low bulk density, high specific surface area, low pressure drop, high active component dispersion
- Key Advantage: Significantly superior HDN and olefin saturation activity compared to other types
- Primary Application: High-nitrogen naphtha hydrorefining
All catalysts in the series are manufactured under strict quality control standards, ensuring consistent performance and reliability in industrial hydrotreating operations.
