Highly Effective Schungite-Based Catalyst for Deoxygenation of Biomass Components

Nowadays, the processes for the conversion of biomass to fuels are of great interest. One of the widely studied reactions is the deoxygenation of oxygen-containing compounds. The process is performed in two main directions: in hydrogen presence (namely hydrodeoxygenation) and using supercritical fluids as a hydrogen source. The modern problem in deoxygenation is catalyst stability and selectivity. Thus, the development of novel catalytic systems is an urgent task. Schungite is a natural carbon-reach material that has high sorption ability and excellent reductive properties. These properties make this material suitable for its use as catalyst support. In this work, the study of the effectiveness of novel schungite-based catalysts in supercritical deoxygenation of fatty acids and bio-oil model compounds is presented. The catalyst synthesis was performed by the recently developed method of Ni hydrothermal deposition on the schungite surface. The synthesized catalysts were tested in the deoxygenation of stearic acid and guayacol in the supercritical hexane. The experimental results showed that the developed catalysts allow 100 % conversion of the substrate to be reached in both processes providing over 90 wt.% of gasoline and diesel-range hydrocarbon yield.