Catalytic hydrodesulfurization

Claim 1

A process for hydrodesulfurizing hydrocarbon oil by contacting said oil in the presence of hydrogen under hydrodesulfurization conditions with a catalyst consisting essentially of from about 0.5 to about 25 weight percent based on the catalyst weight of at least one catalytic metal selected from the group consisting of molybdenum, tungsten, chromium, nickel and cobalt supported on gamma alumina produced by a process consisting essentially of: a. hydrolyzing aluminum alkoxides to produce an aqueous alumina slurry and an organic reaction product, b. contacting said aqueous alumina slurry with an organic solvent selected from the group consisting of ethanol, propanol, isopropanol, butanol, hexanol, isobutanol and tertiary butanol in an amount sufficient to produce alumina having a cumulative pore volume (0-10,000A) from about 1.0 to about 2.75 cc/g, a surface area from about 225 to about 400 m 2 /g and a loose bulk density from about 7.5 to about 25 lb/ft 3 upon drying to an Al 2 O 3 content from about 80 to about 100 weight percent to form a solvent-aqueous alumina mixture, c. drying said solvent-aqueous alumina mixture to produce alumina, and d. forming said alumina into particles and calcining to produce said gamma alumina.