Sulfur compounds reactivity in the ODS of model and real feeds on W–SBA based catalysts

W/SBA series, the catalyst with the highest loading showed the best performance in the ODS of LGO and SRGO while the catalysts efficiency could not be discriminated in the ODS of model solutions. In the ODS of both model solutions and real feeds, the W/SBA catalyst was found to be much more efficient than a catalyst obtained by impregnation of a commercial silica with similar loading, highlighting the beneficial use of a mesoporous support with high surface area and pore volume that allowed well-dispersed tungsten species to be obtained. The quantity of sulfones precipitated and/or retained on the catalyst depended on the feed and was found to be higher in the ODS of model solution than in the ODS of real feeds. The precipitated/retained sulfones on the support may induce catalyst deactivation, which highlights the importance of the textural properties of the support. This detailed study points out the difficulty of extrapolating results obtained in the ODS of model solution to the ODS of real feeds.