Cobalt Molybdate Catalyst: Acid-Washed Alumina Impregnated to 6.5 % Molybdenum and 0.8 % Cobalt, Pelleted (Hoog, Shell, US 2,608,521)

A catalyst for taking sulphur out of oils with hydrogen: alumina carrying a little molybdenum and cobalt. Shell's 1948 recipe cleans the alumina with acid, soaks it in a solution of the two salts, then presses it into small pellets and heats them under nitrogen. Result: 3 x 5 mm pellets with 6.5 parts molybdenum and 0.8 part cobalt to 100 parts alumina. In Shell's test they desulphurised a gas oil 88 % at 375 °C and 50 atmospheres, for hundreds of hours without regeneration. Source: Hoog, US 2,608,521 (Shell, 1952). Not given: the amounts of the two salts, drying temperature. Shell used a commercial activated alumina. Danger: hydrochloric acid burns. Picture drawn by Youblob.