Extended Abstract, 14th ICC, Seoul, Korea, 2008 [Scopes 4] Hydrodeoxygenation of guaiacol as model compound for pyrolysis oil on noble metal catalysts Andrea Gutierrez a, *, Reetta K. Kaila a , A. Outi I. Krause a a Helsinki University of Technology, Laboratory of Industrial Chemistry, P.O. Box 6100, FI-02015 TKK, FINLAND *FAX: +358 9 451 2622, andrea.gutierrez@tkk.fi Abstract: Pyrolysis oils are an alternative to fossil fuels. The high content of oxygenated compounds makes them thermal and chemically unstable thus, the removal is required. Zirconia-supported mono- and bimetallic Rh and Pt catalysts were tested in hydrodeoxygenation reactions. Tests performed using guaiacol (2-methoxyphenol) as model compound showed that, e.g. the monometallic Rh catalyst was more active than the sulfided CoMo/Al 2 O 3 at temperatures lower than 300 o C. The presence of oxygenated compounds indicated that temperatures higher than 300 ºC are needed in hydrodeoxygenation. The carbon deposition was lowest on the noble metal catalysts. Noble metal catalysts are a promising alternative to sulfided catalysts. Keywords: hydrodeoxygenation, guaiacol, noble metal catalysts. 1. Introduction Alternative feed stocks for fuels and chemicals are widely investigated due to the imminent depletion of fossil fuels and the increasing concern in environmental protection [1]. The thermal breakdown of the biomass transforms it into liquids (pyrolysis oils) [2]. The energy density of these liquids is higher than biomass, they are CO 2 neutral, and their use does not generate SO x emissions as the sulfur content of biomass is often negligible [2]. Pyrolysis oils are complex mixtures of chemicals and water [2-4]. The high concentration of oxygenated compounds (close to 40%) makes them thermally and chemically unstable [3,4] and the total or partial elimination of oxygenates is required [3,5,6]. Hydrodeoxygenation (HDO) is an alternative for upgrading of pyrolysis oils [3]. Sulfided CoMo and NiMo catalysts are used in upgrading reactions but they have the disadvantage of sulfur stripping causing the deactivation of the catalyst and the contamination of the products [7]. Furthermore, sulfided catalysts are deactivated due to coke deposition [7]. Therefore, there is a need for more suitable catalysts. Noble metal catalysts are an alternative to sulfided catalysts in upgrading reactions [8]. In this work, guaiacol (GUA) was selected as the model compound for wood-based pyrolysis oils. The performance of ZrO 2 -supported noble metal catalysts was compared to that of sulfided CoMo/Al 2 O 3 . 2. Experimental Zirconia-supported mono- and bimetallic Rh and Pt catalysts were prepared by dry impregnation. The total metal loading of the catalysts was 0.5 wt-%. The experiments were performed in a 40 ml stainless steel batch reactor heated in a sand bath (100 – 350 o C). The catalysts were pretreated in situ. The drying was performed in air (1 MPa) at 350 ºC during 1 h. After this, the noble metal catalysts were reduced in H 2 and the CoMo catalyst was sulfided with 5 vol-% H 2 S in H 2 . The conditions used for both procedures were 1