The main application of Transition Metal Sulphides (TMS) as solid

catalysts is for production of clean fuels in petroleum refineries. The

various feedstocks to be processed all contain more or less sulphur,

included in highly stable heteroaromatic molecules. In order to meet the

stringent specifications imposed worldwide nowadays on transportation

fuels to reduce their environmental impact, catalytic hydroprocessing

remains essential. In this process, sulphur is removed as H₂S following

the reaction between molecular hydrogen and the heteroaromatics. The

reaction conditions and reaction medium composition are such that only

TMS provide stable catalysts, generally supported on alumina. Both for

their fundamental and applied interest, these fascinating systems are still

the subject of a very significant research effort, while major advances

have been made over the past 30 years, involving innovative preparation

routes, sophisticated surface science experiments for characterisation,

detailed kinetic and mechanistic studies, and state of the art DFT simulations

giving unprecedented insight into the local structure as well as elementary

steps at microscopic level.

This book aims at providing a complete, comprehensive and updated

survey of the field, useful for anyone involved: the student starting a

research project, the academic researcher or the refinery engineer willing

to deepen their knowledge on the catalytic as well as on the process

aspects. It is therefore organised into three parts: I - Fundamental Aspects,

II - Progress in the Preparation and Characterisation, and III - Applications

to the Production of Clean Fuels. 37 specialists from IFP Energies nouvelles,

CNRS, or French universities have contributed, reporting a unique synthesis

of the last 15 years of research. The preface written by Michèle Breysse, a

well known leading scientist who devoted most of her fruitful career to this

topic, puts this collective work into a meaningful historical perspective.