Hydrodeoxygenation of bio-oil and model compounds for production of chemical materials at atmospheric pressure over nickel-based zeolite catalysts

Nickel-based zeolite (HY, HBeta, MCM-41-γ-Al2O3 and MCM-41-HBeta) catalysts were prepared by impregnating using Fe and Ga. The prepared nickel-based zeolite catalysts were characterized by N2 sorption studies, X-ray diffraction, NH3-temperature programmed desorption and scanning electron microscope. The hydrodeoxygenation (HDO) performance of the prepared catalysts were evaluated using guaiacol (GUA) as a bio-oil model compound in a fixed bed. Results showed that GaNi/MCM-41-HBeta had a high selectivity for the target products of benzene and its derivatives. Moreover, the HDO pathways of GUA were analyzed, which provided a reference for the bio-oil HDO. HDO experiments of bio-oil showed that the hydrocarbon content and yield of GaNi/MCM-41-HBeta reached a maximum value of 93.31% (light oil), 35.39% (light oil), 92.11% (heavy oil) and 46.90% (heavy oil), respectively. The contents of benzene and its derivatives in the upgraded oils were 28.16% (light oil) and 30.03% (heavy oil), respectively.