SBIR Phase I: Advanced catalysts development for oil refinery

This project proposes the development of advanced catalyst technology for ultra-deep hydro-desulfurization and cetane number improvement process for diesel fuel. The proposed process will enhance the cetane number to as high as 58, lower sulfur content and reduce the boiling end-point to obtain a higher-quality diesel fuel. In this project, Advanced Energy Materials, LLC (AdEM) proposes to demonstrate the feasibility of advanced catalyst formulations using lab scale packed bed reactor with diesel and light cycle oil (LCO) feeds obtained from refineries in midwest region. Phase I of the proposed project involves three major components: 1). Demonstrate the feasibility of improving the cetane number of diesel fuel, with catalysts made using the proposed 1-D nanowire-based materials. With the addition of noble metal alloy, the catalysts are anticipated to exhibit at least 8 point of cetane numer enhancement due to the selective ring opening (SRO) hydrogenation activity. It’s also important to verify that AdEM’s catalysts capability for removing sulfur species and increasing cetane number of diesel fuel simultaneously. 2). Investigate the feasibility of hydrodesulfurization performance using “spent” sulfided nanowire-based catalysts. The catalysts should exhibit high sulfur-removal performance and regenerable for 10 cycles and with less than 5% loss of initial performance. 3). Demonstrate scalability of catalyst materials and extrudate production at kilogram necessary for continuous testing at 10-100 gram scale. AdEM has developed a break-through technology for scalable manufacturing of both one-dimensional and two-dimensional nanomaterials, and formulating nanopowders to macroscopic shape catalyst products with high mechanical strength and stability. Potential impact: Sulfur is a natural component of crude oil that is present in gasoline and diesel unless removed. Demand for higher performance diesel engines has resulted in an increase in minimum cetane number required for diesel fuel. The development of advanced catalyst which can remove sulfur to below 15 ppm and improves cetane number simultaneously is attracting considerable attention in recent years due to the new government policies and its global market is growing fast. AdEM’s proposed catalyst and its scalable manufacturing methods can lead to the highly efficient sulfur removal in oil refineries with a substantial energy savings. Summary for Congress: This SBIR project will develop a new class of zinc oxide and titanium dioxide nanowire based selective catalysts for ultra-deep sulfur removal from various fuels; selective ring opening catalysis for significant cetane number improvement, and decreasing the cost of catalyst manufacture. Keywords: Sulfur removal, hydrodesulfurization, cetane number, selective ring opening, nanowire, plasma, kilogram scale production.