Production of high-octane gasoline via hydrodeoxygenation of sorbitol over palladium-based bimetallic catalysts

Abstract

A methodology for the synthesis of gasoline-range fuels from carbon neutral resources is introduced. Sorbitol, a sugar-based compound, was employed as a raw material because the compound is readily obtained from cellulose. Gasoline-range hydrocarbons were produced via hydrodeoxygenation (HDO) on zirconium phosphate supported Pd-bimetallic (Pt - Pd, Ru - Pd, Ni - Pd, Fe - Pd, Co - Pd, W - Pd) catalysts. Among the tested catalysts, the bimetallic W - Pd/ZrP catalyst exhibited the highest yield of gasoline products, peaking at similar to 70%. However, with the bimetallic Fe - Pd and Co - Pd catalysts, high-octane gasoline products were made (research octane number (RON) of the products was higher than 100). The Fe - Pd catalyst also showed the highest initial activity for the HDO of sorbitol. This study demonstrates that HDO in the Pd-system is a promising option to produce high-quality gasoline-range hydrocarbons from lignocellulosic biomass.