Catalytic upgradation of bio-oil over metal supported activated carbon catalysts in sub-supercritical ethanol

Document Type

Journal Article

Publication Title

Journal of Environmental Chemical Engineering

Volume

9

Issue

2

Publisher

Elsevier

School

School of Engineering

RAS ID

38816

Comments

Baloch, H. A., Nizamuddin, S., Siddiqui, M. T. H., Riaz, S., Konstas, K., Mubarak, N. M., ... Griffin, G. J. (2021). Catalytic upgradation of bio-oil over metal supported activated carbon catalysts in sub-supercritical ethanol. Journal of Environmental Chemical Engineering, 9(2), article 105059. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jece.2021.105059

Abstract

© 2021 Elsevier Ltd. The bio-oil was upgraded in sub-supercritical ethanol using metal supported platinum on activated carbon (Pt/AC) and palladium on activated carbon (Pd/AC) as catalysts. The supercritical upgrading process revealed more effective process compared to the subcritical conditions. Esterification during catalytic upgrading of bio-oil remained prominent which facilitates the conversion of acids present in bio-oil into esters in sub-supercritical ethanol. In addition, heavy compounds of crude bio-oil cracked into lighter compounds in the presence of catalysts. Furthermore, the changes in the upgraded bio-oil relative to crude bio-oil was extensively investigated through higher heating value (HHV), elemental analysis, solution pH, chemical composition (GC-MS), chemical functional groups (FTIR), and 13C and 1H nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (NMR). The chemical composition analysis showed a significant decrease in acid fractions in sub-supercritical upgrading process, hence the solution pH varied from 2.5 in bio-oil to 5.3 after supercritical reaction. The HHV of bio-oil increased from 28.55 to 36.4 MJ/kg. This research has shown that crude bio-oil can be efficiently upgraded with carbon-supported metal catalysts in a sub-supercritical upgrading process.

DOI

10.1016/j.jece.2021.105059

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