Catalytic conversion of biomass-derived sorbitol to aromatic compounds

ABSTRACT

The present wok is focused on a novel method of aromatic compounds production from biomass-derived sorbitol via catalytic processing. Aromatic compounds including substituted benzenes and olefins have been considered to be very promising in the substitution of diminishing fossil fuels since they are component of transportation fuels such as gasoline. The yield of aromatic compounds was found to be affected to a certain extent by reaction parameters and the catalyst. The effects of reaction parameters such as reaction temperature, weight hourly space velocity (WHSV), gas hourly space velocity (GHSV), and hydrogen pressure on the catalytic performance of the catalyst were investigated. The optimum reaction conditions were achieved as follows: 280°C of the temperature, 2.25 hr⁻¹ of WHSV, 2000 hr⁻¹ of GHSV, and 4.0 MPa of pressure. Meanwhile, the Ni/HZSM-5 catalyst modified by MCM-41 was selected to catalyze sorbitol into aromatic compounds. The testing results indicated that the catalyst containing metal centers and acid sites had the maximal activity with 100% of sorbitol conversion. Dehydration and aromatization of sorbitol was induced on the acidic sites of zeolite and its shape selectivity, whereas hydrogenation and cracking was carried out on those mental centers. The carbon distribution of the products was also close to the acidity of the catalyst.

Keywords:

• Aromatic compound
• biomass catalytic processing
• sorbitol
• zeolite

Funding

This project is supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 21206162 and 51276183), National Key Basic Research Program 973 Project founded by MOST of China (No. 2012CB215304), Program of International Science and Technology Cooperation (No. 2012DFA61080), and National Science and Technology Project (No. 2012AA101806).

Additional information

Funding

This project is supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 21206162 and 51276183), National Key Basic Research Program 973 Project founded by MOST of China (No. 2012CB215304), Program of International Science and Technology Cooperation (No. 2012DFA61080), and National Science and Technology Project (No. 2012AA101806).