Catalytic hydrotreatment (HT) of bio-oils towards alkanes

The suggested researcher project is relevant for adapting knowledge and process technology towards future industrial production of alkanes of high energy density (liquids range) from bio oils originating from liqno-cellulosic material (wood). The project is targeting upgrading by hydrodeoxygenation (HDO) and saturation by hydrogenation (HYD) reactions, and in particular catalyst development for optimizing and tuning activity, stability and selectivity. These reactions can potentially be combined into one process step, which will be advantageous for efficiency. A high pressure test rig (small pilot) and equipment for study of HT exists in the laboratories of SINTEF Materials and Chemistry, Department of Hydrocarbon Process Chemistry in Trondheim. Conventi onal catalysts used in HT of fossil streams are the CoMo(S)/Al2O3 system and NiMo(S)/Al2O3, the last one known to possess much stronger HYD activity. These will be used as reference systems in the project for study of HDO and HDO+HYD, respectively. Howeve r, the different properties of bio oils compared to fossil oils imply that these catalysts must be modified (strategy 1) or replaced by new catalysts (strategy 2) according to substantially new requirements. Robustness versus activity will be of particula r concern. Two approaches are followed; (1) Mild hydrotreatment (partial HDO) of the bio oil as pretreatment to enable use of product fractions as co-feed in a conventional refinery and (2) Deep hydrotreatment to optimize oxygen removal (HDO) and achieve partial saturation (HYD) of the bio oil, which is highly aromatic by nature. The 2 year project is organized as a SINTEF activity supported and interacting with a postdoctor