Investigation of the Effect of Boron Promoter on Structural Properties of NiMo Nanocatalyst supported on Red Mud synthesized by Impregnation Method for Hydrocracking and Hydrodesulfurization of Oil Cuts

In this paper, NiMo nanocatalysts supported on waste material red mud with various amounts of boron promoter were synthesized via impregnation method and their catalytic activity were tested in hydrodesulfurization and hydrocracking processes. The prepared nanocatalysts were characterized using XRD, XRF, FESEM, BET and FTIR analysis. The results obtained by the analysis related to activation red mud confirmed that activation process significantly decreases amounts of Ca and Na in the red mud and increases its specific surface area. FESEM images confirmed the formation of nanoparticles with an average particle size of 18.45 nm. Techniques employed in NiMo/B-ARM nanocatalysts characterization revealed that boron addition resulted in uniform dispersion of particles on the support surface, an increase in the active phase and a decrease in the formation of Ni spineless. The catalytic activity of nanocatalysts in the hydrocracking process showed that with the addition of boron, liquid products obtained in the process contained higher amounts of kerosene and gasoline and lower amounts of heavy cuts. In addition, hydrodesulfurization performance measurements showed that NiMo/B-ARM with 0.8 wt.% boron had the best catalytic activity.