Molecular analysis of nitrogen-containing compounds in vacuum gas oils hydrodenitrogenation by (ESI+/-)-FTICR-MS

This paper is a part of a study on reactivity descriptors in vacuum gas oil hydrotreatment (VGO HDT). It aims to understand the differences in feeds of various process origins and the corresponding hydrotreated effluents on a molecular level. Four different vacuum gas oils were hydrotreated over a sulfided NiMo/Al2O3 catalyst at a wide range of temperatures and residence times in order to collect HDT effluents at a broad range of hydrodenitrogenation (HDN) conversions. Vacuum gas oils and HDT effluents have been analyzed by Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry (FTICR-MS) in positive ESI(+) and negative ESI(-) electrospray ionization modes to characterize the basic and neutral nitrogen-containing species and the subtleties of HDT transformations depending on the feedstock type.