Energy & Fuels, Vol.28, No.7, 4588-4595, 2014
Catalytic Upgrading of Switchgrass-Derived Pyrolysis Oil Using Supported Ruthenium and Rhodium Catalysts
Upgrading of fast pyrolysis oils produced from swtichgrass was carried out using 5 wt 96 Ru and 5 wt % Rh on a carbon support as catalysts slurried in a polyethylene glycol solvent in a 300 mL Parr batch reactor in the presence of hydrogen. A hydrodeoxygenation (HDO) reaction was evaluated in the temperature range of 200-280 degrees C under hydrogen pressure of 300-1000 psig. The raw pyrolysis oil and the upgraded products were characterized by gas chromatography (GC), gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS), and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) techniques to establish the effectiveness of the hydrogenation process. With Ru/C at 280 degrees C and 1000 psig, the GC/MS data showed the absence of acetic acid and the principal liquid product slate included alcohols, hydrocarbons, cyclic compounds, and phenolics at a relative concentration of 5.2, 21.2, 3.8, and 35.7%, respectively.