Hydrogenation of bio-oil into higher alcohols over Ru/Fe3O4-SiO2 catalysts

•Magnetically-recoverable Ru/Fe3O4-SiO2 catalysts were studied in liquid hydrogenation of model pyrolysis oil•The optimum reaction temperature was 150 °C providing high reaction rates, hydrogenation of corrosive or unstable species and minimum hydrogen consumption•Acidic solution (pH = 3) doubled the hydrogenation reaction rate compared to neural solution (pH = 6)

Liquid-phase hydrogenation of a solution of furfural, phenol and acetic acid has been studied in the 50-235 °C range over magnetic Ru/Fe3O4-SiO2 catalyst targeting the renewable production of second generation biofuels with minimum hydrogen consumption. Phenol was fully hydrogenated to cyclohexanol in the entire temperature range. Below 150 °C, furfural was mainly hydrogenated to tetrahydrofurfuryl alcohol while hydrogenolysis to cyclopentanol was the main reaction pathway above 200 °C. The hydrogenation rate was doubled in an acidic solution (pH = 3) as compared to that at a pH 6. The spent catalyst was regenerated and reused in subsequent catalytic runs.

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