Hydrodeoxygenation of pyrolysis oil for hydrocarbon production using nanospring based catalysts

• Ni and Ru decorated silica nanosprings (Ni-NS and Ru-NS) were synthesized as hydrodeoxygenation (HDO) catalysts.
• Phenol was successfully reduced to cyclohexane with Ni-NS and Ru-NS catalysts.
• Pyrolysis bio-oil was fractionated into water soluble and water insoluble fractions.
• The bio-oil fractions were successfully HDO treated to cycloalkanes using the Ni-NS catalyst.

Nickel (Ni) and ruthenium (Ru) decorated nanosprings (Ni-NS and Ru-NS) were prepared for use as potential hydrodeoxygenation (HDO) catalysts. The nanocatalysts were characterized by BET surface area measurements, electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction (XRD) and showed the NSs had a helical and mesoporous structure. The Ni and Ru decorated NSs showed good metal dispersity at the NS surface. Catalytic HDO conversion of phenol (model bio-oil compound) using NS were compared to conventional alumina (Al2O3) and silica (SiO2) gel catalyst supports. Ni–Al2O3 was easily deactivated in the presence of water while the Ni-NS catalysts performed very well irrespective of water being present. An increase in Ni loading (up to 50%) increased the Ni-NS activity while the high loading resulted in a detrimental effect on the activity of silica gel based catalysts. Ru based catalysts showed better activity and conversion on phenol HDO than Ni based catalysts, even in the presence of water. Ponderosa pine pyrolysis bio-oil was fractionated into water-soluble (WS) and water-insoluble (WI) fractions. The bio-oil WI fraction was first hydrocracked to lower its molar mass and then HDO treated with Ni-NS to successfully form cycloalkanes products. These NS based HDO catalysts show promise for upgrading pyrolysis bio-oils to biofuels.

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