Kinetic Modelling of the Influence of H2S on Dibenzothiophene Hydrodesulfurization in a Batch System over Nano-MoS2

Abstract

In this work, the possibility of enhanced activity during the hydrodesulfurization of dibenzothiophene over certain nano-MoS2 catalyst due to the presence of H2S was examined by focusing on the reaction kinetics. With H2S generated in situ, the overall reaction followed the autocatalytic rate law; while in the absence of H2S the kinetics indicated a pseudo-first-order reaction. H2S appears to modify the relative contributions of parallel hydrogenation and desulfurization reactions by drastically increasing the hydrogenation rate. Kinetic models were developed that describe the hydrodesulfurization reaction at various H2S concentrations, and the kinetic parameters and adsorption equilibrium constants associated with this process were estimated by fitting the experimental data. The results suggest that the promotion and/or inhibition of hydrodesulfurization by H2S likely result from the same overall reaction mechanism.