Journal of Fundamentals of Renewable Energy and Applications
Open Access
ISSN: 2090-4541
+44 1300 500008
ISSN: 2090-4541
+44 1300 500008
T M Sankaranarayanan1, A Berenguer1, P Jana1, I Moreno1,2, J M Coronado1, P Pizarro1,2 and D P Serrano1,2
Scientific Tracks Abstracts: J Fundam Renewable Energy Appl
Lignocellulosic biomass becomes very attractive as feedstockfor the production of pyrolysis bio-oils, both scientifically and
economically. Still, theseproducts cannot be used as a liquid fuel or additive due to their excessive oxygen content, and poor
chemical stability. Therefore, upgrading treatments are required. Catalytic hydrodeoxygenation is considered to be one of the
most effective routes for bio-oil transformation. The present work involves the study and understanding the reaction pathway
of the hydrodeoxygenation of guaiacol as a representative chemical of the bio-oil obtained from pyrolysis of lignocellulosic
biomass, which contains 25.8% of oxygen due to the characteristic of methoxyphenol linkages. For this purpose, catalysts
based on Ni (5 wt%) are loaded on various supports (hierarchical ZSM-5, SBA-15, Al-SBA-15 and commercial H-ZSM-5). The
samples were characterized in detail using N2 adsorption-desorption isotherms, Powder X-ray diffraction (XRD), Transmission
Electron Microscopy (TEM), Temperature Programmed Reduction and Desorption (H2-TPR/NH3-TPD). Subsequently,
all the prepared catalysts were tested in HDO of guaiacol (3.3 wt% in decaline (50 ml) in a 100ml stainless steel (SS) high
pressure stirred batch reactor. The reaction was carried out below 40 bars of hydrogen partial pressure and the temperature
was 260Ã?Â?C, with the constant stirring speed (1000 rpm) for 2 hours.The liquid and gas products were analyzed by GC and GCMS.
These catalysts reveal different hydrogenation and hydrogenolysis routes based on supports. Ni/h-ZSM-5 exhibits a better
deoxygenation activity with a percentage of HDO around 98% at 260Ã?Â?C, 2 hours. In addition, we correlated hydrophobic and
hydrophilicity of the catalysts with HDO results.
T M Sankaranarayanan is a Postdoctoral Researcher at the Thermochemical Processes Unit of the IMDEA Energy Institute. Before joining IMDEA, he worked
as a Senior Research Fellow at the National Centre for Catalysis Research for his doctoral research (2008-2013). During his Doctoral research, he studied
the transesterification and hydroprocessing of vegetable oil (non-edible oils) on mixed metal oxides. He was also involved in collaboration with others for the
hydrogenolysis of polyols, catalytic cracking and hydrotreating (viz. HDS, HDM, HDN and HDO) reactions. His Postdoctoral research is focused on the second
generation biofuels from lignocellulose biomass. He has 11 publications in international journals.