Dispersed Transition-Metal Sulfides for Guaiacol Hydrotransformation under Water–Gas Shift Conditions: Effects of Precursor Type and Composition of Reaction Medium on Catalytic Performance
摘要
This study investigates how the precursor type, catalyst composition, metal salt ratio, and sulfur content affect the catalytic performance of dispersed (unsupported) bimetallic transition-metal sulfide catalysts in guaiacol hydrotransformation under water–gas shift conditions (CO + H2O). The dispersed catalysts were synthesized in situ from oil-soluble or water-soluble transition-metal salts. After decomposition of precursors, the resulting oxides were sulfided using elemental sulfur in the reaction mixture as a sulfiding agent precursor. Under typical test conditions (340°C, 5 MPa CO at 25°C, 6 h, Mo : guaiacol = 1 : 75, 20 wt % H2O), the Ni–Mo catalyst derived from water-soluble precursors at a Ni : Mo molar ratio of 1 : 3 with 1.0–1.5 wt % sulfur achieved 95–100% guaiacol conversion, with a total yield of cyclohexene and cyclohexane (the main hydrocarbon products) of 25–35%. Phenol represented 38–42% of the products regardless of sulfur content and the lowest selectivity to phenol (32%) was detected for sulfur content of 1.25 wt %. However, raising the sulfur content from 1.25 to 1.5 wt % reduced cyclohexanone selectivity from 22 to 15%.