Zeolites Based Catalytic Processes for Furfuryl Alcohol Dehydration: Activity Test, Characterization and Deactivation of Catalysts
AIChE Annual Meeting
2017
2017 Annual Meeting
Student Poster Sessions
Undergraduate Student Poster Session: Catalysis and Reaction Engineering
Monday, October 30, 2017 - 10:00am to 12:30pm
Alcohol dehydration and condensation reaction have been extensively
investigated. Currently more attention has been paid to alternative renewable sources due to
the increase demand of energy and depletion of fossil fuels. As a lignocelluloses derived
alcohol, furfuryl alcohol (FA, C5H6O2) is an attractive platform chemical that can be used in
the production of chemicals and fuels. FA dehydration and condensation
reaction into oligomers and polymer have also been investigated because of a wide range of
applications, such as nanocomposite carbon, carbon nanotubes, and fuel blending
components. In this work, furfuryl alcohol dehydration by heterogeneous acid catalysts was
studied under 100oC at atmospheric pressure for 3 hours and 6 hours. The comparison was
established among three zeolite catalysts (H-MFI, H-MOR, and H-BEA), having the similar
Si/Al ratios but having different pore architectures, therefore provided
different catalytic activities. By reacting the above zeolites with FA, the FA underwent
alcohol dehydration while coke was formed on zeolites. The study of coke formation has
brought lots of interest since it results in decreased catalytic activities and increased
byproducts. FT-IR spectroscopy were applied to characterize the zeolites before and after
reactions. Coke formed on zeolites were characterized by using Raman and TGA. The FA
dimers and trimers were identified by GC-MS and GC-FID was used to determine the
conversion and selectivity of oligomers. It was found that 6 hours reaction yielded a
higher conversion than 3 hours reaction; however, the selectivity differs due to the difference
in structure and pore size of zeolites.
investigated. Currently more attention has been paid to alternative renewable sources due to
the increase demand of energy and depletion of fossil fuels. As a lignocelluloses derived
alcohol, furfuryl alcohol (FA, C5H6O2) is an attractive platform chemical that can be used in
the production of chemicals and fuels. FA dehydration and condensation
reaction into oligomers and polymer have also been investigated because of a wide range of
applications, such as nanocomposite carbon, carbon nanotubes, and fuel blending
components. In this work, furfuryl alcohol dehydration by heterogeneous acid catalysts was
studied under 100oC at atmospheric pressure for 3 hours and 6 hours. The comparison was
established among three zeolite catalysts (H-MFI, H-MOR, and H-BEA), having the similar
Si/Al ratios but having different pore architectures, therefore provided
different catalytic activities. By reacting the above zeolites with FA, the FA underwent
alcohol dehydration while coke was formed on zeolites. The study of coke formation has
brought lots of interest since it results in decreased catalytic activities and increased
byproducts. FT-IR spectroscopy were applied to characterize the zeolites before and after
reactions. Coke formed on zeolites were characterized by using Raman and TGA. The FA
dimers and trimers were identified by GC-MS and GC-FID was used to determine the
conversion and selectivity of oligomers. It was found that 6 hours reaction yielded a
higher conversion than 3 hours reaction; however, the selectivity differs due to the difference
in structure and pore size of zeolites.