Sustainable biofuel production via catalytic hydrodeoxygenation of 4-methylanisole over Mo/nano ?-Al2O3

Recently, valorization of lignin biomass derived pyrolysis bio-oil for production of a sustainable fuel has turned to be a vital concern. Hydrodeoxygenation (HDO) has turned to be the most suitable developing process for production of a fuel with high heating value. In the current study, the HDO of 4-methylanisole as a model compound of pyrolysis oil, is investigated over Mo/nano & gamma;-Al2O3 catalyst at a wide range of operating conditions. 4-methylanisole mainly follows hydrogenolysis and direct HDO to produce 4-methylphenol and toluene, respectively. Increasing operating temperature (623-773 K) and inverse weight hourly space velocity (WHSV-1: 0.008-0.333 g catx h/g 4-methylanisole) lead in promoting toluene production. However, 4-methylphenol production and alkylation reactions are favored at high pressures (12-20 bar). 4-methylanisole conversion through HDO is 98% at 12 bar, 623 K and WHSV-1 of 0.333 g catx h/g 4-methylanisole. The selectivity of toluene and 4-methylphenol production at the mentioned conditions is 0.44 and 0.17, respectively. It is inferred that hydrogenation, hydrogenolysis of Caliphatic-O, dehydration, deoxygenation of Caromatic-O, alkylation and tautomerization are the main reaction pathways during upgrading process which influence the selectivity of the products.