Methods of treating and sulfiding hydroconversion catalysts

1. A method of treating a hydroconversion catalyst, the method comprising:

(a) combining an inactive hydroconversion catalyst with a solid hydrocarbon containing material having a melting point of 50° C. or greater to produce an unsulfided hydroconversion catalyst/solid hydrocarbon containing material mixture; and

(b) sulfiding the inactive hydroconversion catalyst by contacting the unsulfided hydroconversion catalyst/solid hydrocarbon containing material mixture with a gaseous stream comprising hydrogen (H 2 ) and a sulfur containing compound at a temperature sufficient to sulfide the inactive hydroconversion catalyst and carbonize at least a portion of the hydrocarbon containing material on the sulfided inactive hydroconversion catalyst to obtain a treated sulfided hydroconversion catalyst.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the inactive hydroconversion catalyst in step (a) is at a temperature lower than the melting point of the solid hydrocarbon containing material at the time the inactive hydroconversion catalyst is contacted with the solid hydrocarbon containing material.

3. The method of claim 2 , further comprising heating the mixture to a temperature sufficient to melt the solid hydrocarbon containing material.

4. The method of claim 3 , wherein the melted hydrocarbon containing material coats the surface of the pores of the unsulfided inactive hydroconversion catalyst.

5. The method of claim 2 , wherein a temperature difference between the inactive hydroconversion catalyst and the melting point of the solid hydrocarbon containing material is 10° C. to 90° C.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the inactive hydroconversion catalyst in step (a) is at a temperature greater than the melting point of the solid hydrocarbon containing material at the time the inactive hydroconversion catalyst is contacted with the solid hydrocarbon containing material.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the melting point of the solid hydrocarbon containing material is 50° C. to 150° C.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the solid hydrocarbon containing material is a paraffin wax, a microcrystalline wax, a synthetic wax, an animal wax, a plant wax or blends thereof.

9. The method of claim 8 , wherein the paraffin wax has a melting point of 60° C. to 100° C.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein mixing step (a) comprises contacting the inactive hydroconversion catalyst with 5 wt. % to 25 wt. % of the solid hydrocarbon containing material based on the total weight of the inactive hydroconversion catalyst and the solid hydrocarbon containing material.

11. The method of claim 1 , wherein the temperature sufficient to sulfide the catalyst and carbonize at least a portion of the hydrocarbon containing material on the inactive hydroconversion catalyst is 175° C. to 500° C.

12. The method of claim 1 , wherein the gaseous sulfur containing compound is hydrogen sulfide gas (H 2 S).

13. The method of claim 1 , wherein the gaseous stream comprises 1% to 10% by volume of the sulfur containing compound, and at least 0.5% by volume of H 2 .

14. The method of claim 1 , wherein the produced treated sulfided hydroconversion catalyst comprises 2 wt. % to 15 wt. % carbon produced from the carbonization.

15. The method of claim 1 , wherein the produced treated sulfided hydroconversion catalyst comprises 2 wt. % to 25 wt. % sulfur.

16. The method of claim 1 , wherein the inactive hydroconversion catalyst comprises at least one catalytically active transition metal or oxide thereof.

17. The method of claim 16 , wherein the catalytic metal is supported on a metal oxide support.

18. The method of claim 17 , wherein the catalytic metal is supported on alumina (Al 2 O 3 ), titania (TiO 2 ), or silica (SiO 2 ).

19. The method of claim 1 , wherein step (a) and step (b) are performed ex-situ of a hydroconversion processing unit.

20. The method of claim 1 , wherein step (a) and step (b) are performed in-situ in a hydroconversion processing unit.