The basic refining technologies include hydrocracking, isomerization, and hydrotreating which are used for removing sulfur, nitrogen, oxygen, and metals from feedstock and produced fuel. As a rule, aluminum-oxide catalysts used for hydrotreating must be characterized by mechanical strength, efficient heat transfer and resistance to high temperatures. Most often such catalysts are made in the form of pellets, but when they are placed in a high-temperature environment, fluidized bed diffusion occurs.
The scientists of the Institute of Catalysis, the Siberian Branch of the RAS tried to solve this problem by developing a more durable catalyst carrier. For this purpose, they printed polymer templates on a 3D printer and then filled the plastic mold with aluminum oxide paste. Plastic burns out when calcinated, so a block-shaped catalyst is released which is more efficient for hydrotreating processes. According to the authors of the study, it is important to find the optimal number of pores for such blocks so that their structure will retain its strength.
“The technology makes it possible to produce catalysts of any shape, including complex and irregular, with a strictly defined internal structure of channels through which gas or liquid can flow unimpeded. The idea of the research is to make catalysts and sorbents more efficient, with the shapes adapted for specific reactors and a maximum specific surface area. These catalysts are at least not inferior in stability to the granular ones, but can give a gain by improving mass and heat transfer”, the Institute of Catalysis, the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences quotes Vsevolod Vdovichenko, junior researcher.
The scientists’ development can find its application not only in the production of catalysts for oil refining, but also for the production of sorbents, i.e. the products of coal processing which are used for wastewater treatment.
