Applied Catalysis B: Environmental 71 (2007) 199–206

www.elsevier.com/locate/apcatb

Studies on recycling and utilization of spent catalysts: Preparation

of active hydrodemetallization catalyst compositions from
spent residue hydroprocessing catalysts
Meena Marafi, Antony Stanislaus *
Petroleum Refining Department, Petroleum Research and Studies Center, Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research, P.O. Box 24885, Safat, Kuwait
Received 12 April 2006; received in revised form 31 July 2006; accepted 11 September 2006
Available online 10 October 2006

Abstract
Spent catalysts form a major source of solid wastes in the petroleum refining industries. Due to environmental concerns, increasing emphasis
has been placed on the development of recycling processes for the waste catalyst materials as much as possible. In the present study the potential
reuse of spent catalysts in the preparation of active new catalysts for residual oil hydrotreating was examined. A series of catalysts were prepared by
mixing and extruding spent residue hydroprocessing catalysts that contained C, V, Mo, Ni and Al2O3 with boehmite in different proportions. All
prepared catalysts were characterized by chemical analysis and by surface area, pore volume, pore size and crushing strength measurements. The
hydrodesulfurization (HDS) and hydrodemetallization (HDM) activities of the catalysts were evaluated by testing in a high pressure fixed-bed
microreactor unit using Kuwait atmospheric residue as feed. A commercial HDM catalyst was also tested under similar operating conditions and
their HDS and HDM activities were compared with that of the prepared catalysts. The results revealed that catalyst prepared with addition of up to
40 wt% spent catalyst to boehmite had fairly high surface area and pore volume together with large pores. The catalyst prepared by mixing and
extruding about 40 wt% spent catalyst with boehmite was relatively more active for promoting HDM and HDS reactions than a reference
commercial HDM catalyst. The formation of some kind of new active sites from the metals (V, Mo and Ni) present in the spent catalyst is suggested
to be responsible for the high HDM activity of the prepared catalyst.
# 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Keywords: Spent catalysts; HDM catalyst preparation; Waste catalyst management; Residue hydrotreating

1. Introduction deposits formed on them during use in the reactors. In most

Large quantities of catalysts are used in the petroleum
refining industry for the purification and upgrading of various
petroleum streams and residues. The catalysts deactivate with
time and when the activity of the catalyst declines below the
acceptable level, it is usually regenerated and reused. But,
regeneration is not always possible [1,2] and after a few cycles
of regeneration and reuse, the catalyst activity may decrease to
very low levels and further regeneration may not be
economically feasible. The spent catalysts are discarded as
solid wastes [3,4]. The quantity of spent catalysts discharged
from different processing units depends largely on the amount
of fresh catalysts used, their life and on the amount of the
* Corresponding author. Tel.: +965 3980499; fax: +965 3980445.
E-mail address: astanis@prsc.kisr.edu.kw (A. Stanislaus).
0926-3373/$ – see front matter # 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.apcatb.2006.09.005
refineries, a major portion of the spent catalyst waste comes
from the residue hydrotreating and hydroprocessing units. This
is because the catalysts used in these processes deactivate
rapidly by coke and metal (V and Ni) deposits, and have a short
life [5–7]. Furthermore, technology for regeneration and
reactivation of the catalysts deactivated by metal fouling is
not available to the refiners.
The volume of spent hydroprocessing catalysts discarded as
solid wastes has increased significantly in recent years due to a
steady increase in the processing of heavier feedstocks
containing higher sulfur, nitrogen and metal (V and Ni)
contents together with a rapid growth in diesel hydrotreating
capacity to meet the increasing demand for low sulfur fuels. At
the same time, environmental laws concerning spent catalyst
disposal have become increasingly more severe in recent years.
Spent hydroprocessing catalysts have been classified as
hazardous wastes by the Environmental Protection Agency
200 M. Marafi, A. Stanislaus / Applied Catalysis B: Environmental 71 (2007) 199–206

in the USA [8,9]. The most important hazardous characteristic prepared catalyst samples was examined. The HDM and HDS
of spent hydroprocessing catalysts is their toxic nature. activities of the catalysts were tested in a high pressure fixed-
Chemicals such as V, Ni, Mo and Co present in the catalyst bed microreactor unit using Kuwait atmospheric residue as feed
can be leached by water after disposal and pollute the and compared with that of a commercial HDM catalyst.
environment.
The hazardous nature of the spent catalysts is attracting the 1.1. Experimental
attention of environmental authorities in many countries and
the refiners are experiencing pressures from environmental 1.1.1. Catalyst preparation from spent catalyst–boehmite
authorities for safe handling of spent catalysts. Several mix
alternative methods such as disposal in landfills, reclamation The sequence of operational steps used for the preparation of
of metals, regeneration/rejuvenation and reuse, and utilization catalyst extrudates from spent catalyst–boehmite mix in the
as raw materials to produce other useful products are available present work are shown in Fig. 1. Boehmite used in the catalyst
to the refiners to deal with the spent catalyst problem [3,4,10– preparation experiments were obtained from Sasol, Germany.
13]. The choice between these options depends on technical- Spent catalyst was obtained from Kuwait National Petroleum
feasibility and economic considerations. Company (KNPC). The spent catalyst was first washed with
In recent years, increasing emphasis has been placed on the naphtha and then extracted with toluene in a soxhlet apparatus
development of processes for recycling the waste catalyst to remove the residual oil. The oil free-spent catalyst was
materials as much as possible. Utilization of spent catalysts as ground to fine powder in a grinding machine (Christison
raw materials in the production of other valuable products is an Particle Technologies Ltd., Model KM 100) and then sieved
attractive option for recycling spent catalysts from environ- using a sieve shaker (Endecotts, model OCT Digital 4587-01)
mental and economical points of view. Spent fluid catalytic with appropriate sieves obtain particle sizes in the range 25–
cracking (FCC) catalysts have been successfully used in cement 90 mm similar to that of the boehmite powder. The chemical
production [13,14]. Recently, a process for making highly and physical properties of the oil-free spent catalyst powder
stabilized non-leachable ceramic materials from spent catalysts were analyzed by various techniques. The characteristic of the
has been reported by Sun et al. [15]. A few studies on the spent catalyst are shown in Table 1.
preparation of active catalysts from spent catalysts for various A laboratory kneading and extrusion machine (Type: LUK
applications have been reported in the literature. Lee et al. [16] 2.5 AS) manufactured by Werner and Pfleiderer Gmbh & Co.,
reported that active reforming catalysts can be prepared using Germany, was used for the preparation of catalyst extrudates
the V, Ni and Mo containing extract obtained by leaching spent from spent catalyst–boehmite mixtures. It contained a mixing
catalysts with citric acid. Furimsky [17] found that spent Co– chamber, two blades for mixing, and a drive unit with two three-
Mo/Al2O3 and Ni–Mo/Al2O3 catalysts, after regeneration, can phase motors and gears, and a discharge screw.
catalyze the decomposition of H2S. In a recent patented Three hundred grams of spent catalyst–boehmite mixture in
process, Choi et al. [18] used spent hydroprocessing catalysts to the desired ratio was taken in the mixing chamber for each
prepare active catalysts for reduction of nitrogen oxides. The
use of spent catalysts in preparation of active hydrotreating
catalysts, have been reported in a few earlier studies [19,20].
However, the spent catalysts used in these earlier works were
from petroleum distillates hydrotreating units and contained
Mo, Co and Al2O3 without V and Ni.
Spent catalyst handling and utilization has been the subject
of some investigation in our laboratory. In most of the previous
studies, rejuvenation of spent residue hydroprocessing catalysts
for reuse was addressed [21–27]. In the present work,
utilization of spent residue hydroprocessing catalysts contain-
ing high levels of Vand coke together with Mo, Ni and Al2O3 in
the preparation of active hydrodemetallization (HDM) catalysts
has been considered. HDM catalysts are used in the front end
reactors of petroleum residue hydrotreating processes to
remove the metals such as V and Ni that are present in the
residual oil. The catalyst usually possesses high activity for
promoting HDM reactions together with some activity for
sulfur removal by hydrodesulfurization (HDS) reaction. The
catalysts were prepared by mixing and extruding the spent
catalyst powder with boehmite in different percentages, and the
effect of mix ratio between spent catalyst and boehmite on the
key catalyst properties such as surface area, pore volume, pore Fig. 1. Operational steps in the preparation of catalyst extrudates from spent
size distribution and the metals (V, Mo and Ni) content of the catalyst.
 M. Marafi, A. Stanislaus / Applied Catalysis B: Environmental 71 (2007) 199–206
Table 1
Spent catalyst characteristics
Catalyst property Values
Mo (wt%) 4.5
V (wt%) 9.7
Ni (wt%) 4.0
C (wt%) 15.3
Al2O3 (wt%) 43.5
Surface area (m2/g) 18
Pore volume (ml/g) 0.10
Side crushing strength (lb/mm) 2.9
experiment. Then 185 ml of dilute nitric acid (e.g., 2%), as a
peptizing reagent, was added in drops at a constant rate to the
boehmite powder, and the two were mixed and kneaded. The
blades in the mixing chamber were counter rotating and turned
at different speeds. They were designed and arranged for
intensive mixing and kneading of the boehmite with the nitric
acid to form a good, extrudable paste. At the end of the mixing
and kneading time (20–30 min), the product was extruded by
means of the discharge screw through a die containing several
holes (1.5 mm in diameter) to form catalyst extrudates. The
extrudates were dried at 110 8C in an oven for 24 h. The dried
extrudates were calcined at 370 8C for 2 h, 450 8C for 3 h and
500 8C for 2 h. After calcinations the prepared extrudates were
cooled in desiccators and characterized.
1.1.2. Catalyst characterization
The concentrations of V, Mo, and Ni in the spent catalyst and
in the prepared catalyst samples were determined by
inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectroscopy
(Varian Liberty II ICP-AES). A scanning electron microprobe
X-ray analyzer (model: EPMA JXA 8600MX) from Joel was
used for measuring the distribution profiles of the metals across
the catalyst pellets. Surface areas of the catalysts were
determined by BET method using an autosorb adsorption unit
manufactured by Quantachrome Corporation, USA. A mercury
porosimeter (Quantachrome Poremaster-60) was used for pore
volume and pore size distribution determination in catalyst
samples. The method involves intrusion of mercury into the
pores at high pressures of up to 60,000 psi. A side crushing
strength measuring apparatus designed and manufactured by
AKZO Nobel (Model No. 120794-108) was used to determine
the side crushing strength of the catalyst pellets.
1.1.3. Catalysts activity testing
Hydrotreating activities of the prepared catalysts were tested
in a high pressure fixed bed microreactor unit using Kuwait
atmospheric residue as feed. The feedstock contained 4.3 wt%
sulfur, 0.27 wt% nitrogen, 69 ppm vanadium, 21 ppm nickel,
3.6 wt% asphaltenes and 12.4 wt% CCR. Thirty millilitres of
the catalyst diluted with an equal amount of carborundum was
used for each run. The catalysts were presulfided using 1% CS2
in straight run gas oil by a standard procedure [28], before
introducing the feed. After presulfiding, the test conditions
were adjusted to desired operating temperature, pressure,
hydrogen to oil ratio and liquid hourly space velocity (LHSV).
201
All catalysts were tested under the following operating
conditions:
pressure ¼ 120 bar; LHSV ¼ 1 h1 ; H2 =oil ratio ¼ 1000;
temperature ¼ 370 and 390  C
For each run, product samples were collected every 24 h for
analysis of S and metals (Ni, V) content. Sulfur content was
determined using an Oxford Model 3000 XRF instrument. The
concentrations of V and Ni in the oil were determined without
ashing using a Varian Liberty Series II, ICP spectrophotometer.
2. Result and discussion
2.1. Characteristics of the catalysts prepared by mixing
spent catalyst with boehmite
The catalyst extrudates prepared with the addition of spent
catalyst to boehmite in different proportions were subjected
to chemical analysis to determine the concentration of Mo,
Ni and V in them. The results are plotted in Fig. 2. It is seen
that the concentration of the metals in the prepared catalysts
increases linearly with increasing percentage of spent
catalyst in the mix. A larger increase is noticed for V than
the other metals. A catalyst prepared from a mix containing
20% spent catalyst and 80% boehmite contains 1.84% V,
0.91% Mo and 0.77% Ni. Increasing the amount of spent
catalyst in the mix from 20 to 40% increases the V content to
3.8% whereas, the Mo and Ni concentrations increase to
1.85% and 1.47%, respectively. These results are consistent
with the higher concentration of V than Mo and Ni in spent
catalyst (Table 1).
The distribution profiles of vanadium, and nickel within the
pellets of spent catalyst and in the extrudates prepared by
mixing different percentages of spent catalyst with boehmite
are shown in Fig. 3a and b. It is seen that in the spent catalyst
vanadium concentration is more near the outer edges than at the
center of the pellet. Nickel distribution in the spent catalyst is
more uniform than that of vanadium. In the prepared catalyst
extrudates high edge concentration of vanadium is not seen, and
Fig. 2. Effect of increasing spent catalyst percentages mixed with boehmite on
the concentration of metals in the prepared catalysts.
202 M. Marafi, A. Stanislaus / Applied Catalysis B: Environmental 71 (2007) 199–206
Fig. 3. Vanadium and nickel distribution profiles within the pellets of spent catalysts and in the catalyst prepared by mixing different percentages of spent catalyst
with boehmite: (a) vanadium and (b) nickel.
both V and Ni are more evenly distributed throughout the pellet
cross-section with some spots having higher concentration than
the others. The processes such as peptization, mixing, kneading
and extrusion with an acid that are used to prepare the
extrudates appear to influence the distribution of the metals in
the alumina support.
In Fig. 4, it is seen that the alumina extrudates prepared from
boehmite alone without spent catalyst addition has a high
surface area around 165 m2/g, and addition of small amounts
(up to 15 wt%) of the spent catalyst to boehmite has no
appreciable effect on the surface area, but higher amounts
(>15%) reduce the surface area of the prepared catalysts. For
example, the surface area of the catalyst gradually decreases
from 165 to 120 m2/g when the amount of spent catalyst is
increased progressively from 15 to 40 wt%. A further increase
Fig. 4. Effect of mixing different percentages of spent catalyst with boehmite
on the surface area of prepared catalysts.
in the amount of spent catalyst to 60 wt% leads to drastic
reduction in the surface area to 50 m2/g. The pore volume data
presented in Fig. 5 indicate a gradual decrease in pore volume
with increasing spent catalyst content in the catalyst.
Interestingly, a remarkable change in the pore size distribution
of the catalysts is noticed with increasing spent catalyst content
(Table 2).
The volume of pores in the 100–200 Å diameter region
decreases progressively while that in the 200–300 Å diameter
shows a steady increase. Thus, for example, the pore volume
contributions from the 100–200 and 200–300 Å pores for the
catalyst prepared with 10% spent catalyst are 0.41 and 0.09 ml/
g, respectively. Increasing the amount of spent catalyst from
10% to 40% decreases the volume of 100–200 Å pores from
0.41 to 0.10 ml/g and increases the volume of 200–300 Å pores
Fig. 5. Effect of mixing different percentages of spent catalyst with boehmite
on the pore volume of prepared catalysts.
 M. Marafi, A. Stanislaus / Applied Catalysis B: Environmental 71 (2007) 199–206 203

Table 2
Pore volume distribution in the catalyst extrudates prepared by using different percentages of spent catalyst
Spent catalyst Pore size Total pore
(wt%) volume
<50 Å 50–100 Å 100–200 Å 200–300 Å 300–500 Å 500–1000 Å >1000 Å
(cm3/g)
3 3 3 3 3 3
cm /g % cm /g % cm /g % cm /g % cm /g % cm /g % cm3/g %
0 0.001 0.13 0.006 0.88 0.519 77.36 0.087 13.00 0.026 3.91 0.013 1.89 0.019 0.86 0.671
15 0.007 1.29 0.032 5.59 0.418 73.04 0.071 12.35 0.019 3.23 0.007 1.19 0.019 1.15 0.573
25 0.011 2.11 0.034 6.53 0.262 49.84 0.168 31.92 0.020 3.88 0.008 1.50 0.022 0.98 0.525
40 0.005 1.04 0.038 7.52 0.100 20.07 0.280 56.17 0.043 8.62 0.007 1.36 0.026 1.78 0.500
60 0.000 0.00 0.030 8.26 0.105 28.82 0.189 51.91 0.022 6.10 0.003 0.83 0.016 0.58 0.363

from 0.09 to 0.28 ml/g. In agreement with this, the average pore
diameter shows a gradual increase with increasing spent
catalyst addition (Fig. 6).
The spent catalyst used in the study contained 15.3% carbon
and 9.7% vanadium. The surface area and pore volume of the
spent catalyst were 18 and 0.1 ml/g, respectively (Table 1). The
low surface area and pore volume values indicate that the
catalyst is deactivated by pore blockage and fouling of the
active catalytic sites by coke and metal deposits. Although, the
coke deposits are removed during the calcinations of the
extrudates in air, the metal deposits will remain in the pores.
Therefore, a gradual decrease in the surface area and pore
volume with the increasing amount of spent catalyst addition is
not unexpected.
It is well known that porosity in catalyst pellets and
extrudates originates from the space between the particles. In
large pore aluminas and catalysts, the primary particles are
larger and larger spaces (pores) are formed between the
particles when they are shaped into pellets or extrudates. On the
other hand, in small pore materials, the primary particles are
smaller and are more closely packed.
The sizes of the primary particles and the nature of packing
thus determine the pore size of catalyst materials. In spent
catalysts, the coke and metal deposits can fill the pores and
reduce the pore volume and pore-size. When a spent catalyst
containing coke and metal deposits is mixed and extruded with
alumina containing both narrow and wide pores, it is likely that
a portion of the small particles of spent catalyst with its deposits
fill the narrow pores.
The resulting extrudate material will have mainly large
pores originally present in the alumina material. However, the
pore size distribution data (Table 2) shows a large increase in
the 200–300 Å diameter pores when the amount of spent
catalyst mixed with boehmite is increased above 20 wt%. These
results clearly indicate that pores in this diameter region are
created when the spent catalyst is extruded with boehmite and
resulting extrudates are dried and calcined.
When the spent catalyst is mixed with boehmite and
extruded, the resulting catalyst extrudates will contain coke,
metals and Al2O3 originally present in the spent catalyst. It is
likely that the sizes of the g-Al2O3 crystallites in the spent
catalyst are large and they create larger pores when extruded
with boehmite. The removal of the carbonaceous matter from
the extrudates during the calcination process can also create
wide pores in the catalyst. Preparation of large pore alumina
supports by mixing and extruding carbon black with boehmite
followed by removal of the carbon black by combustion at
temperatures around 500 8C from the extrudates has been
reported in literature [29].
The side crushing strength of the prepared catalyst
extrudates is also influenced by the spent catalyst percentage
in the catalyst. In Fig. 7, it is seen that the change in side
crushing strength is not appreciable up to 20% spent catalyst
addition, but a further increase of spent catalyst amount in the
mix to 40% leads to a remarkable increase in the side crushing
strength of the prepared catalyst extrudates. The processes such
as peptization, kneading, extrusion, drying and calcination that
are used for the preparation of catalyst extrudates from

Fig. 6. Effect of mixing different percentages of spent catalyst with boehmite Fig. 7. Effect of mixing different percentages of spent catalyst with boehmite
on the pore diameter of prepared catalysts. on side crushing strength of prepared catalysts.
204 M. Marafi, A. Stanislaus / Applied Catalysis B: Environmental 71 (2007) 199–206

boehmite and spent catalyst mix can have effects on the

physical properties of the extrudate material, and in con-
sequence can influence the mechanical properties. The total
pore volume of the material is gradually reduced during
extrusion with spent catalyst. It is generally known that the
crushing strength of an extrudate material is inversely
proportional to the porosity [30], and the present results are
consistent with this.

2.2. Hydrotreating activities of the prepared catalysts

The prepared catalysts were tested in a microreactor to

evaluate their activity for promoting HDS and HDM reactions
in residual oil hydrotreating process. Kuwait atmospheric
residue was used as feed for the tests. All tests were conducted Fig. 9. Vanadium removal activity (HDV) vs. spent catalyst percentage in
boehmite.
at two temperatures (i.e. 370 and 390 8C). The other test
conditions and operating procedure are described in detail in
the experimental section. Activity tests were also conducted on has a very poor activity for promoting these reactions, probably
a reference commercial HDM catalyst and spent catalyst alone due to its low surface area and porosity.
under similar operating conditions. The results of the present studies show that highly active
The HDS activity of the prepared catalysts with different catalysts for residual oil hydrotreating could be prepared from
percentages of spent catalyst mixed with boehmite are presented metals (V, Mo and Ni) containing spent catalysts by mixing
in Fig. 8. The results demonstrate that the activity of the prepared them with boehmite. The scientific basis for the high
catalysts for promoting the HDS reactions increases remarkably hydrotreating activities of these catalysts is explained below.
when amount of spent catalyst in them is increased up to 40 wt%.
But a further increase in spent catalyst amount does not lead to
any appreciable increase in the activity. Similar results are also
noticed in Figs. 9 and 10 for metal (V and Ni) removal by HDM
reactions. This is probably due to a large reduction in the surface
area and porosity of the catalyst when the amount of spent
catalyst is increased above 40%. Interestingly, the catalysts show
significantly higher activity for metals removal (HDVand HDNi)
than for sulfur removal (HDS).
The HDS and HDM activities of the catalyst prepared by
mixing 40% spent catalyst with boehmite are compared with
that of spent catalyst alone and with that of a commercial
reference HDM catalyst in Fig. 11. It is seen that the catalyst
prepared from the spent catalyst–boehmite mix is more active
than the reference catalyst for promoting both HDS and HDM
reactions in residual oil hydrotreating. The spent catalyst alone Fig. 10. Nickel removal activity (HDNi) vs. spent catalyst percentage in
boehmite.

Fig. 11. Comparison of the HDS, HDV and HDNi activities of spent, prepared
Fig. 8. HDS activity vs. spent catalyst percentage in boehmite. and reference catalysts.
 M. Marafi, A. Stanislaus / Applied Catalysis B: Environmental 71 (2007) 199–206 205

Catalysts used for hydrotreating of petroleum distillates and
residues normally consist of Mo supported on an alumina
carrier with promoters such as Ni or Co [30–33]. Mo alone can
promote hydrotreating reactions such as HDS and HDM but its
activity is enhanced by the presence of Ni or Co. The synergy
between Mo and Ni in promoting hydrotreating reactions has
been explained on the basis of the formation of an active phase
(Ni–Mo–S), which contains both metals [34,35].
In the catalysts prepared by mixing spent catalysts with
boehmite, vanadium is present together with Mo and Ni. The
metals (V, Mo and Ni) present in the spent catalysts are
distributed and dispersed on the alumina support when they are
mixed with boehmite, peptized with nitric acid kneaded and
extruded. Vanadium either alone or in combination with Ni or
Mo has been reported to exhibit some activity for promoting
hydrotreating reactions [36–38]. Several studies have shown
that NiV/Al2O3 and VMo/Al2O3 have fairly high catalytic
activity for promoting HDM and HDS reactions [39,40]. The
activities of these catalysts are; however, lower than NiMo/
Al2O3 catalysts.
The catalysts prepared with the addition of up to 40 wt%
spent catalyst to boehmite have large pores, and reasonably
high surface area (>120 m2/g) and pore volume (>0.5 ml/g).
Furthermore, some new active catalyst sites involving different
combinations of the three metals (Mo, Ni and V) may be
present in them [41]. The presence of such new kind of active
sites together with the reasonably high surface area and
porosity could be responsible for the high hydrotreating activity
of the catalysts prepared by mixing spent catalyst with
boehmite.
3. Conclusions
In this work, a series of catalysts were prepared by mixing
and extruding spent residue hydroprocessing catalysts with
boehmite in different proportions. The prepared catalysts were
characterized by chemical analysis and by surface area, pore
volume, pore size and crushing strength measurements. The
HDM and HDS activities of the catalysts were evaluated by
hydrotreating tests in a microreactor using Kuwait atmospheric
residue as feed. The important conclusions of the studies are as
follows.
 Catalysts prepared from spent catalyst–boehmite blends
contained vanadium, molybdenum and nickel. The concen-
tration of the three metals increased linearly with increasing
amount of spent catalyst.
 The surface area and pore volume of the catalysts decreased
gradually with increasing amount of spent catalyst up to
40 wt% and then declined drastically, while the crushing
strength showed the opposite trend.
 Catalysts prepared with the addition of up to 40 wt% spent
catalyst to boehmite contained large pores together with
fairly high surface area (>120 m2/g) and pore volume
(>0.5 ml/g).
 A catalyst prepared by mixing 40 wt% spent catalyst with
boehmite was relatively more active for promoting HDM and
HDS reactions than a reference commercial HDM catalyst in
residual oil hydrotreating.
The method developed in this study for the preparation of
active HDM catalyst from spent catalyst can be used for
recycling spent residue hydroprocessing catalyst containing
high levels of V and thereby to reduce the environmental
problem of spent catalyst waste.
Acknowledgements
The authors thank the management of the Kuwait
Foundation for the Advancement of Sciences (KFAS) for their
financial support of the project. The assistance of Ms. Hanadi
Al-Sheeha, Ms. Sara Al-Omani and Mr. Inian in the catalyst
preparation and characterization experiments is gratefully
acknowledged.
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