(169e) Hydrodeoxygenation of Bio-Oil By Hydrogen Donor Compounds Over Supported Ni and Cu Catalysts

Fast pyrolysis of lignocellulosic biomass can yield oxygenated hydrocarbon liquids (“bio-oil”) with the potential to produce biofuels and valued chemicals. However, the crude bio-oil must be upgraded to be used as transportation fuels because of its low heating values, high corrosiveness, thermal instability, and immiscibility with crude-oil-based fuels.  Hydrodeoxygenation (HDO) is a highly sought-out technology for upgrading bio-oil into fuel blendstocks. In conventional HDO, hydrogen is reacted with the bio-oil at high-pressure to remove oxygen in the form of water. The hydrogen is supplied from an external source since the process is fundamentally hydrogen-deficient. To reduce the severity of biofuels processing, technologies are needed in order to facilitate hydrogen transfer in situfrom compounds available within the reactor.

In this work, hydrodeoxygenation of bio-oil model compounds and authentic bio-oil were carried out by using hydrogen-rich compounds as hydrogen donors. One main advantage of this process is the reduced severity of processing conditions for hydrodeoxygenation. The process can be carried out in a reactor of relatively low temperature and pressure. NiO and CuO were supported on Al₂O₃ and SiO₂ supports by wet impregnation method. The HDO of bio-oil model compounds was examined in a batch reactor at elevated temperatures (250-350 ^oC) for several hours, at constant pressure over all supported catalysts. All catalysts before and after the reaction were characterized by techniques such as BET-surface area and elemental analysis  The effects on the reduction of the model compounds for various reaction conditions will be discussed, including the identities and concentrations of the hydrogen donor model compounds and catalysts.  The potential to use this type of transfer hydrogenation for the upgrading of bio-oil will also be discussed in this presentation.