Bulk catalyst comprising nickel tungsten metal oxidic particles
The invention relates to a nickel tungsten bulk catalyst, to a process for the manufacture of said catalyst and to the use of said catalyst for the hydrotreatment, in particular the hydrodesulphurisation and hydrodenitrogenation of hydrocarbon feedstock. The catalyst comprises nickel tungsten metal oxidic particles obtainable by a process comprising forming a slurry of a first solid metal compound comprising Group VNI metal nickel and a second solid metal compound comprising Group VIB metal tungsten in a protic liquid, reacting the first and second solid metal compounds at elevated temperature whereby the first and second solid metal compounds remain at least partly in the solid state during the entire reaction to form the nickel tungsten oxidic bulk catalyst.
1. A process for making a bulk catalyst comprising nickel tungsten metal oxidic particles, the process comprising the steps of:
(i) combining nickel and tungsten in water to form a slurry,
(ii) reacting the nickel and tungsten at a temperature above 100° C. and a pressure above 1 bar, whereby the nickel and tungsten remain at least partly in the solid state during the entire reaction to form the nickel tungsten metal oxidic particles, and
(iii) forming the bulk catalyst from the nickel tungsten metal oxidic particles.
2. The process according to claim 1 , wherein said process further comprises heat-treating said bulk catalyst at a temperature below a temperature where transition to a crystalline structure occurs.
3. The process according to claim 1 , wherein the molar ratio of tungsten to nickel is between 0.2 and 1.5.
4. The process according to claim 1 wherein the bulk catalyst so produced has a metastable hexagonal structure having an X-ray diffraction pattern with a single reflection between 58 and 65° (diffraction angle 2θ) and main reflections between 32 and 36° and between 50 and 55°.
5. The process according to claim 4 wherein the main reflections have a full width at half maximum (FWHM) of less than 2.5°.
6. The process according to claim 1 , wherein the slurry comprises nickel in the form of carbonate or hydroxy-carbonate having a surface area of at least 150 m 2 /g.
7. The process according to claim 1 , wherein a Group V metal is combined with said nickel and tungsten to form said slurry, wherein the amount of the Group V metal (relative to tungsten) is between 0.1 and 10 mole %.
8. A process for hydroprocessing a hydrocarbon feedstock comprising sulphur and nitrogen containing organic compounds, the process comprising the step of contacting the hydrocarbon feedstock with a catalyst made according to claim 1 .
9. A method for ultra deep hydrodesulphurisation of a sulphur and nitrogen containing hydrocarbon feed comprising contacting the feed with a bulk catalyst according to claim 1 .