TITLE:
Effects of Yttrium Doping on the Performance of Ru-Based Catalysts for Hydrogenation of Fatty Acid Methyl Ester
AUTHORS:
Qi Lin, Huirong Zheng, Guocai Zheng, Xinzhong Li, Benyong Lou
KEYWORDS:
Yttrium-Doped, Ruthenium-Based Catalyst, Fatty Acid Methyl Ester, Hydrogenation
JOURNAL NAME:
International Journal of Organic Chemistry,
Vol.4 No.4,
November
6,
2014
ABSTRACT: The highly
dispersed supported ruthenium-yttrium (Ru-Y) bimetallic catalysts were prepared
by impregnation method and their catalytic performance for hydrogenation of ester
was fully investigated. The catalyst was characterized by X-ray diffraction and
field emission scanning electron microscopy. The results show that the average
particle diameter of the bimetallic crystallites was less than 10 nm. The
effects of the reaction temperature, the hydrogen pressure, the amount of catalyst
and the proportion of yttrium in catalyst on the hydrogenation of ester were studied.
The experimental results show that the introduction of yttrium not only changed
the chemical and textural properties of ruthenium-based catalyst but also controlled
the formation of Ru-Y alloy. The Ru-Y catalyst (Ru-2%Y/TiO2) exhibited
high catalytic activity and good selectivity towards the higher alcohols. Under
optimal reaction conditions of 240°C and 5 MPa hydrogen pressure, the
conversion of palm oil esters was above 93.4% while the selectivity towards
alcohol was above 99.0%.