Kinetics of hydrodesulfurization of dimethyldibenzothiophenes in a gas oil narrow-cut fraction and solvent effects

The hydrodesulfurization kinetics of the dimethyldibenzothiophenes lump (DMDBTs) presented in a narrow-cut gas oil fraction at conditions commonly used in the hydrotreating of diesel feedstocks, has been experimentally determined. In order to obtain experimental data at different DMDBTs concentrations, octadecane was used as a solvent. During the mathematical treatment of the data, an inhibiting matrix effect due to the sulfur compounds themselves and octadecane was observed. These inhibitory effects were quantitatively represented by introducing the apparent adsorption constants K-D [D] and K-sol [S](2) into the denominator of a modified Langmuir-Hinshelwood type rate equation. (C) 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.