Boreskov Institute of Catalysis of the Siberian Branch of Russian ...

HYDRODEOXYGENATION OF FAST-PYROLYSIS OIL:A MODEL COMPONENT STUDYJ. Wildschut and H.J. HeeresUniversity of Groningen, Department of Chemical Engineering, Nijneborgh 4,9747 AG Groningen, the Netherlands. E-mail: H.J.Heeres@rug.nlOP-V-2Fast-pyrolysis oil is a promising energy carrier. It is obtained from biomass by flashpyrolysisin yields up to 70%-wt [1]. As such, the oil is not suitable for applications ininstationary internal combustion engines due to its high oxygen content (ca. 40%-wt) and lowpH (ca. 2.5). Various upgrading technologies have been proposed, of whichhydrodeoxygenation (HDO) is a very promising option [2]. In this processHere, the pyrolysisoil is treated with hydrogen in the presence of a catalyst with the formation of water and ahydrocarbon-like product. Typically, the reaction requires harsh conditions (> 350°C, > 100bar pressure) to obtain reasonable conversion rates.Pyrolysis oil is a dark liquid containing more than 400 components belonging to differentcompound classes (aldehydes, ketones, organic acids, phenolics, sugars). As a consequencetlyit is difficult to gain insights in the molecular processes taking place when hydrotreating theoil. We here report hydrodeoxygenation studies using 10 pyrolysis oil model compounds attemperatures between 250-350°C and pressures of 100-200 bar. The catalyst of choice isRu/C which in earlier studies in our laboratory showed the highest performance for crudepyrolysis oil with respect to yield and deoxygenation rate.mol fraction1,00,90,80,70,60,50,40,30,20,10,00 50 100 150 200 250Time (min)Furanmethanol tetrahydrofuranmethanol ButanolPentanediol Water PentanolFigure 1. Hydrodeoxygenation profile of furfurylalcohol (furanmethanol) with a Ru/C catalystat 250 °C and 100 bar for 4 h.169