INFLUENCE OF TETRALIN ON THE HYDROTREATING OF CRUDE OIL

Hydrotreating of crude oil fractions has long been an important operation in petroleum refining; however, the hydrotreating of whole crude oil remains a relatively underexplored process. Although pure hydrogen is conventionally used as the hydrogen source, concerns regarding its safe handling have encouraged interest in alternative hydrogen-donor chemicals. This study investigates the hydrotreating of crude oil using tetralin as a hydrogen-donor chemical. Experiments were conducted in a continuous-flow fixed-bed reactor under controlled operating conditions using a cobalt–molybdenum catalyst supported on alumina. The sulphur, nitrogen, and nickel contents of the crude oil were analysed before and after treatment. The sulphur content of the untreated crude oil decreased from 0.12 wt.% to 0.053 wt.% after treatment with tetralin. Similarly, nitrogen and nickel contents decreased from 0.09 wt.% and 0.985 ppm to 0.039 wt.% and 0.641 ppm, respectively. These results indicate that tetralin can serve as a viable hydrogen-donor medium for reducing key impurities during crude oil hydrotreating, offering a potentially safer alternative to direct handling of gaseous hydrogen.