(138c) Guaiacol Deoxygenation Using Methane over Pt-Bi Catalysts: Reaction Pathways and Kinetics

The deoxygenation of guaiacol, a typical molecule from the pyrolysis of ligno-cellulosic biomass, was investigated using methane as the reductant to overcome the high cost issue of H₂ as the reductant for the hydrodeoxygenation (HDO) process. In our prior work, a Pt-Bi/C catalyst was used to deoxygenate guaiacol and methane was found to exhibit as good deoxygenation performance as H₂. In the present work, by varying the space velocity, kinetic data was acquired. Following similar reaction pathways as in the case using H₂, rate constants and activation energies for each sub-reaction in the network were obtained. Owing to more difficult activation of C-H bond in CH₄, as compared to H-H bond in H_2, the kinetic results show higher reaction barriers when methane is used as the reductant. This work provides a new approach for bio-oil upgrading using methane as the reductant instead of hydrogen.