Pyrolysis of biomass is a thermal conversion process that produces liquid fuels and chemicals, and is considered a promising technology to compete with and eventually replace non-renewable fossil fuel resources.  Pyrolysis liquids are formed quickly and at relatively low temperatures, but contain significant oxygen (~40 wt%) which causes drawbacks, including low heating value (about half that of petroleum liquids), high acid content (leading to corrosion problems), and low stability (resulting in increasing viscosity with storage).  The subject of the present work is the development of new catalysts, transition metal phosphides, which have outstanding activity for removal of the oxygen in pyrolysis oil by hydrodeoxygenation (HDO) so as to produce high-energy content liquid fuels.  The mechanism of catalytic action of various model substrates (ethanol, 2-methyltetrahydrofuran, guaiacol) is studied by kinetic, isotopic, spectroscopic, and transient methods to uncover the important steps involved in the reaction.

Studies of hydrodeoxygenation on transition metal phosphates

243rd National Meeting (2012)

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