Stabilization of acid-rich bio-oil by catalytic mild hydrotreating

Although liquid products derived from the pyrolysis of biomass are promising for the production of petroleum-like hydrocarbon fuels, the catalytic burden of hydrodeoxygenation must be reduced to achieve feasible upgrading processes. Herein, mild hydrotreating of an acid-rich biomass pyrolysis oil (bio-oil) with an unusually high total acid number (588 mg KOH/g bio-oil) was performed to stabilize the low-quality bio-oil. Ru-added TiO2-supported transition metal catalysts stabilized the bio-oil by reducing its acidity more compared to what could be achieved by Ru-free catalysts; this process also leads to lower loss of organic compounds compared to when using a Ru/TiO2 catalyst. Based on the performance of transition metal catalysts, including Ni, Co, and Cu, supported on TiO2, tungstate-zirconia, or SiO2, supported bimetallic catalysts were prepared by adding Ru to the TiO2-supported metal catalysts. The bimetallic catalysts Ru/Ni/TiO2 and Ru/Co/TiO2 exhibited good decarboxylation activity for the removal of carboxylic acids and a higher yield of organic compounds compared to that provided by Ru, which can be deemed appropriate for feedstocks when hydrodeoxygenation needs to suppress the loss of organic reactants. Using these catalysts, the carboxylic acid concentration was reduced to 319-323 mg KOH/g bio-oil with organic yields of 62-63 wt% at reaction temperatures 150-170 degrees C lower than the temperature required for direct conversion of carboxylic acids to alcohols or deoxygenates. The improved catalytic hydrotreating activity of Ru-added transition metals can be attributed to the high acid site densities of these catalysts along with their improved hydrogenation activities. (C) 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Automated summary

In this study, Ru-added transition metal catalysts were used for the mild hydrotreating of acid-rich biomass pyrolysis oil, leading to stabilization of the oil, reduction in acidity, and higher organic compound yields. Bimetallic catalysts showed good decarboxylation activity for the removal of carboxylic acids and were deemed suitable for feedstocks requiring suppression of organic reactant loss. The improved catalytic activity of Ru-added transition metals can be attributed to their high acid site densities and enhanced hydrogenation activities.