Abstract: Rod-like γ-alumina support was successfully prepared from γ-alumina powder and ammonium bicarbonate by hydrothermal method, and NiMo/γ-alumina hydrodemetallization catalyst was prepared based on the prepared rod-like γ-alumina. The structure and properties of alumina support and the hydrodemetallization catalyst were characterized by XRD, SEM, N2 adsorption-desorption, TPR, Raman and in-situ CO adsorption techniques. The results showed that when the mass ratio of γ-Al2O3 powder to ammonium bicarbonate was 1:1.75 and the synthesis temperature was 140 ℃, the synthesized rod-like γ-alumina particle had a length of 0.5-3 microns and a diameter of 50—100 nm. The γ-Al2O3 support prepared from rod-like γ-alumina possessed the specific surface area of 276 m2/g and pore volume of 0.79 mL/g. Compared with the conventional alumina support, the NiMo/γ-alumina hydrodemetallization catalyst from rod-like γ-alumina was easy to be reduced, and there were many Ni-Mo-S active sites in the catalyst. Under the conditions of a LHSV of 1.0 h-1, a reaction temperature of 380 ℃, a V (H2)/V (oil) of 800, a hydrogen pressure of 15.7 MPa, the removal rate of metal impurities reached 59.8%.

Key words: rod-like, γ-alumina, synthesis, catalyst, hydrodemetallization