Publications

Abstract not provided.

Mathematical models are presented to predict the bubble pressure for 481 cavern oil samples withdrawn from the Bryan Mound, West Hackberry, Big Hill, and Bayou Choctaw Strategic Petroleum Reserve sites. The predicted bubble point pressure is compared to experimentally measured bubble point pressure to resolve potential sources of error introduced to the experimental analysis. In order to gain a higher level of confidence in the measurement of the bubble point pressure, a stochastic analysis of the data is recommended in the future.

Hydrous Metal Oxides (HMOs) are chemically synthesized materials which contain a homogeneous distribution of ion exchangeable alkali cations that provide charge compensation to the metal-oxygen framework. Both the presence of these alkali cations and the resulting high cation exchange capacities (4-5 meq/g) clearly set these HMO materials apart from conventional precipitated hydrous oxides. For catalyst applications, the HMO material serves as an ion exchangeable support which facilitates the uniform incorporation of catalyst precursor species. Following catalyst precursor incorporation, an activation step is required to convert the catalyst precursor to the desired active phase. Considerable process development activities at Sandia National Laboratories related to HMO materials have resulted in bulk silica-doped hydrous titanium oxide (HTO:Si)-supported NiMo catalysts that are more active in model compound reactions than commercial NiMo catalysts. These reactions, e.g. pyrene hydrogenation, simulate direct coal liquefaction. However, extension of this process to produce NiMo/HTO:Si catalyst coatings on commercial supports is of interest for liquefaction applications since overall catalyst cost can be reduced and bulk HTO:Si mechanical limitations can be circumvented. In the present effort, NiMo/HTO:Si has been evaluated for hydrodesulfurization (HDS) and hydrodenitrogenation (HDN) of coal derived liquids. NiMo/HTO:Si catalysts have been evaluated in both bulk (unsupported) form and a supported form on commercial alumina extrudates.

Layered crystalline titanates (CT) [Anthony and Dosch, US Patent 5 177 045 (1993)] are pillared with tetraethyl orthosilicate, 3-aminopropyltrimethoxysilane, and aluminum acetylacetonate to prepare porous and high surface area supports for sulfided NiMo catalyst. Tetra-ethyl orthosilicate or aluminum acetylacetonate intercalated CT are prepared by stepwise intercalation. First, the basal distance is increased by n-alkylammonium ions prior to intercalation with inorganic compounds. However, an aqueous solution of 3-aminopropyltrimethoxysilane could directly pillar CT without first swelling the titanate with n-alkylamine. The catalytic activities for hydrogenation of pyrene of sulfided NiMo supported silica or alumina pillared CT were higher than those of commercial catalysts (Shell324 and Amocat1C). The silicon and aluminum contents of the pillared CT, used as supports, have a considerable effect on the catalytic activities and physical properties of the supports.