In the past 20 years, one of the best catalytic materials for hydrodesulphurization reactions of crude oil has been the transition sulfides, MoS2, known also as the “workhorse” of the refinery industry. It has been proven by this and other research groups that the MoS2 laminar structure can increase its catalytic activity when promoted with cobalt or nickel. The location of active sites seem to be at rim and edge sites on that particular laminar structure, as demonstrated using Mössbauer spectroscopy and x-ray techniques. However, due to maximum capability of this promoted systems, Co(Ni)/MoS2 to remove heterogeneous atoms (S, N, O) - a search for new catalytic materials has currently been an ongoing activity in the HDS community. Here, we will present the new family of ternary phase catalyst with special emphasis on their structural aspects, as revealed by aberration corrected (Cs) high-resolution transmission electron microscopy techniques, in an attempt to describe the nature of active sites on this porous nano-rod like catalytic materials.

Since 1994, HDS is a major player in the design of complex composite parts, especiallyfor racing sailing yachts [1]. In this paper, wesuggest to present our approach in the design and finite-element modelling of the rigidwing-sail of the trimaran that won the 33rd America’s Cup, held in February 2010. From thedecision to design the wing-sail to the assembly on the maxi trimaran, we will present thedifferent steps of design and computation: principles and assessment of the aerodynamicloads, structural design and modelling with tools adapted to each problem, massoptimization. Then, we will detail some of the numerical problems that we faced in thisproject.