Performance and sulfur poisoning of SiO2, γ-Al2O3, and SiO2-Al2O3-supported bimetallic Pd-Pt catalysts in selective hydrogenation of soybean oil-derived fatty acid methyl esters

Exciting Update from CBRC!

Prof. Dr. Apanee Luengnaruemitchai and team researchers from National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST), Japan, and Thailand National Energy Technology Center (ENTEC) designed a high-potential sulfur-tolerant catalyst for the production of partially hydrogenated fatty acid methyl esters (H-FAMEs). The research entitled “Performance and sulfur poisoning of SiO2, γ-Al2O3, and SiO2-Al2O3-supported bimetallic Pd-Pt catalysts in selective hydrogenation of soybean oil-derived fatty acid methyl esters” is published in the journal Fuel (T1 Journal, JCR IF = 8.035) – Available at https://lnkd.in/gSyjtD8N

Decarbonization of transport sector has become imperative for ensuring a safe and sustainable society for the future generations. Although fossil fuel-based light vehicles are currently being replaced by electricity-based vehicles, the electrification and hydrogen energy for heavy-duty vehicles remains a challenge. Biodiesel fuel (BDF) has a low carbon footprint and can be directly blended with petrodiesel to run heavy-duty vehicles. H-FAMEs, a high-quality hydrotreated BDF enriched in mono-FAME with reliable fuel properties, particularly oxidative stability and cold flow properties, have been adopted as a universal starting material for formulating diesel blends.

H-FAMEs can be produced by selective hydrogenation of BDF over supported metal catalysts such as palladium (Pd), platinum (Pt), and nickel (Ni) catalysts under tender conditions. However, recent studies have shown that these supported metal catalysts are simply poisoned by sulfur. The engineering of electronic properties of active phases supported on high surface area oxides is a major approach to prevent sulfur poisoning. In this work, the partial hydrogenation performance and sulfur resistance of bimetallic Pd-Pt (1 wt% metal content, Pd/Pt weight ratio of 1) catalysts supported on SiO2, γ-Al2O3, and SiO2-Al2O3 were studied under mild conditions using soybean oil-derived BDF with varying sulfur contents (1.2–5.3 ppm). The results suggests that utilizing acidic materials improved the performance of catalysts in the synthesis of H-FAME under high sulfur content