Bio-oil produced by fast pyrolysis of lignocellulosic biomass has attracted considerable attention as an intermediate liquid product towards the production of fuels.  However its chemical instability, high viscosity, and corrosiveness limit their processability and storage. One of the greatest challenges in the upgrading of bio-oil is the accelerated degradation that occurs when the condensed liquid is subsequently heated for fractionation or other processing.  Catalytic upgrading is an attractive strategy that can be used to optimize carbon efficiency and minimize hydrogen usage.  Important reactions for this upgrading include:(a)    formation of C-C bonds to extend the carbon backbone of short oxygenates to the desired gasolina / diesel range via aldol condensation and ketonization in aqueous phase(b)    incorporation of short carbon fragments (C1-C3) into the aromatic ring of phenolic compounds via alkylation in biphasic systems;(c)    deoxygenation of the resulting products to monofunctional compounds or hydrocarbons in the liquid phase. We have investigated the kinetics and reaction mechanisms of these reactions on different catalysts, including metals supported on reducible oxides (e.g. Ru/TiO2); acidic catalysts (HY, H-beta zeolites), supported metal catalysts (Cu, Ni, Ru, Pd supported on carbon nanotubes) and amphiphilic nanoparticle catalysts that are able stabilize water/oil emulsions and to conduct reactions at the liquid/liquid interface to benefit from the differences in solubility exhibited by the reactants (bio-oil) and products (bio-fuels) and achieve continuous reaction/separation.

Kinetics and mechanisms of C-C forming and C-O cleavage reactions of interests in bio-oil upgrading

248th National Meeting (2014)

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