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Contenido archivado el 2022-12-23

Nanostructured catalysts for ultra-deep cleaning of motor fuels

Objetivo

The primary scientific goal of the project is to develop scientific bases of the rational design of nanostructured sulphur-tolerant Pt and Pd catalysts and to arrive at a fundamental understanding of their structure - catalytic performance relationships in the reactions of simultaneous hydrodesulphurisation of sulphur-containing organic compounds and hydrogenation of aromatic hydrocarbons.

The technical goal of the project is to develop novel catalytic materials enabling simultaneous ultra-deep hydrodesulphurisation/dearomatisation of the petroleum feedstock. The environmental and social goals of the proposed project are to ensure the petrol and diesel fuel quality to meet the European Union's environmental commitments which are in force starting from the year 2000 and will more strict from the year 2005 in accord with the Directive 98/70/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 13 October 1998. In order to minimise a negative effect of automotive exhaust emission on national health, environment and cultural heritage the content of sulphur and aromatic hydrocarbons in motor fuels have to be below 0.005 and 10 %, respectively.

The scientific novelty of the proposed project will be in arriving at a fundamental understanding of the nature of sulphur-tolerance of the supported Pt, Pd and Pt-Pd catalysts and clarification of the origin of synergetic effect of the individual metal Pt and Pd components in the reactions of catalytic hydrodesulphurisation and hydrogenation. The originality of the project will be in application of nanostructured mesoporous monoliths which role in the rational design of novel hydrodesulphurisation and hydrogenation catalysts will be two-fold:
(i) to ensure uniform composition of catalytic metal species and their regular distribution in well-defined surrounding and thus to enable the ease of physico-chemical characterisation and arriving at a fundamental understanding of the structure - activity relationships;
(ii) to ensure the ease of technological operation due to decreased pressure drop and increased accessibility of catalytic component with the substrate molecules.

The proposed research philosophy will be essential for superior hydrodesulphurisation and hydrogenation activity of the developed catalytic materials via:
(i) regulation of surface chemistry (acid-base properties) of the used supports in order to reach the optimum active phase - support interaction;
(ii) optimisation of the porosity of nanostructured washcoated monoliths in order to ensure the maximum accessibility of active phase with the substrate molecules;
(iii) activation of catalytic phase under conditions which ensure maximum generation of coordinatively-unsaturated sites.

The technological originality of the project will be in the design of a convenient advanced reactor combining in a single catalytic operational step the processes of hydrodesulphurisation of sulphur-containing organic compounds and hydrogenation of aromatic hydrocarbons, which are present in the petroleum feedstock.
On project successful completion the main deliverables will be:

- scientific bases of the synthesis of nanostructured mesoporous silica-alumina, alumina-titania and titania-zirconia washcoated monoliths and the rational design of nanostructured sulphur-tolerant Pt, Pd and Pt-Pd catalysts;
- fundamental understanding of structure - catalytic performance relationships for nanostructured Pt, Pd and Pt-Pd catalysts in the reactions of hydrodesulphurisation of sulphur-containing organic compounds and hydrogenation of aromatic hydrocarbons;
- understanding of the nature of synergetic effect of Pt and Pd components in Pt-Pd catalysts and the origin of their sulphur-tolerance;
- novel catalytic materials for simultaneous ultra-deep hydrodesulphurisation and dearomatisation of motor fuels to the levels of sulphur-containing organic species and aromatics below 0.005 and 10%, respectively.

Convocatoria de propuestas

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Régimen de financiación

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Coordinador

Delft University of Technology
Aportación de la UE
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Dirección
Julianalaan 136
2628 BL Delft
Países Bajos

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Coste total
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Participantes (5)