Hydrodeoxygenation (HDO plus HDA) of guaiacol, anisole and a mixture on Ni-Mo catalysts supported on SBA-15 and γ-Al2O3

This work studies the hydrogenation processes (HDO and HDA) of bio-oils, using guaiacol (2-methoxyphenol) and anisole (methoxybenzene) and the feed mixture on Ni and Mo catalysts supported on SBA-15 and alumina supports in a fixed bed reactor. SBA-15 catalysts presented higher activity than the alumina catalyst, which is due to the greater surface area and lower acidity of the former. The influence of temperature on the process was also studied, at 200, 250 and 300 degrees C, and it was found that the conversions of guaiacol and anisole are relatively high at 300 degrees C. The best results for the guaiacol and anisole mixture for HDO deoxygenation was observed at 200 degrees C for the Ni-Mo/SBA-15 catalyst (96.5%), compared to 75.3% for the Ni-Mo/gamma-Al2O3 catalyst.