Author(s)

A. Aqsha, N. Mahinpey, L. Katta, L. Gras, C. J. Lim

Abstract

In this work, NiMo/Support catalysts have been prepared by impregnation technique and evaluated for hydrodeoxygneation (HDO) reaction of guaiacol (GUA) aiming at the identification of active catalysts. Among various catalysts, NiMo/TiO₂ was chosen to understand the influence of reaction parameters, such as temperature, reaction time, H₂ pressure, and quantity of the catalyst. The influence of the metal components on guaiacol conversion is determined by comparing mono (Ni and Mo) metals deposited TiO₂. These results signify the alloying nature of metal components. GCMS results showed that phenol is a major component in all the conditions. As there is an increase in the temperature (200, 250, 300, 350C), reaction time (1, 5, 8, 24 h), H₂/guaiacol molar feed ratio (0, 1:2, 1:1, and 2:1), and catalyst amount (0, 25, 50, 100 mg), the conversion has increased significantly while maintaining the high selectivity to HDO products without ring opening reactions. Under optimized conditions (350C and 2:1 of H₂:guaiacol ratio), 98% guaiacol is converted on NiMo/TiO₂ resulting phenol, poly methyl substituted phenols, and traces of cyclohexanone and benzene. It is remarkable that a low amount of catechol dimethyl ether and no indication of catechol and creosol were detected.

Keywords

catalyst, guaiacol, hydrodeoxygenation, impregnation, phenol