KINETICS OF HYDRODESULPHURISATION OF THIPHENE OVER A COBALT-MOLYBDENUM CATALYST.

Hydrogenolysis of thiophene in naphtha has been investigated over a series of unsupported and gamma -alumina-supported cobalt-molybdenum catalysts at atmospheric pressure using a fixed-bed microreactor. A kinetic expression describing the effects of temperature and space velocity was verified experimentally. The hydrogenolysis of thiophene was found to be 0. 8th-order with respect to thiophene and first-order with respect to hydrogen. The activation energy of the reaction over cobalt-molybdenum (Co//3O//4-MoO//3 weight ratio 25:75) catalysts was found to be 27. 5 kJ mol** minus **1. X-ray analysis of the various cobalt oxide-molybdenum oxide catalysts shows that MoS//2 or MoO//2 plus MoS//2 may be the catalytic agent in this reaction.