March 13, 2024
Journal Article

Engineered Ru on HY Zeolite Catalyst for Continuous and Selective Hydrodeoxygenation of Lignin Phenolics to Cycloalkanes Under Moderate Conditions

Abstract

We report a continuous selective hydrodeoxygenation (HDO) process of guaiacol conversion to cycloalkanes under 180 °C/1 MPa, which results in improved HDO chemistry for lignin-based jet fuel production. The incipient wetness impregnation method was modified to prepare an HY zeolite-supported Ru catalyst with better metal dispersion and acid site uniformity, which overcomes the low conversion and selectivity of previous literature. The modified catalyst (Ru-HY-60-MI) was tested in a continuous fixed bed reactor, resulting in increased HDO conversion of guaiacol to cycloalkanes compared to the unmodified catalyst. Pressure, temperature, and weight hourly space velocity-dependent tests validate guaiacol HDO over Ru-HY-60-MI catalyzed ring hydrogenation of guaiacol to 2-methoxycyclohexanol, acid-catalyzed demethoxylation and dehydration to cyclohexene, and further hydrogenation of cyclohexene to cyclohexane. These experiments enable exploring a continuous HDO process, demonstrate effectiveness for other ß-ß and a-O-4 lignin representatives and real lignin bio-oil, and pave the way towards commercialization of lignin-based jet fuel

Published: March 13, 2024

Citation

Adarsh Kumar F., A. Kumar, D.M. Santosa, H. Wang, P. Zuo, C. Wang, and A. Mittal, et al. 2024. Engineered Ru on HY Zeolite Catalyst for Continuous and Selective Hydrodeoxygenation of Lignin Phenolics to Cycloalkanes Under Moderate Conditions. Applied Catalysis A: General 676. PNNL-SA-195736. doi:10.1016/j.apcata.2024.119649

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