Conversion of bio-oxygenates into hydrocarbons in the presence of a commercial Pt–Re/Al2O3 catalyst

Abstract

It was found that the preliminarily reduced commercial platinum–rhenium catalyst PR-71 exhibited high activity in the conversion of ethanol into C₄–C₁₂ olefins and in the cross-condensation reactions of ethanol with glycerol, acetone, n-propanol, and isopropanol. Acetone and glycerol exhibited the highest reactivity in the cross-condensation reactions; this manifested itself in an increase in the total yield of the target fraction of C₄–C₁₂ hydrocarbons and in a more than 10-fold increase in the yield of products containing the odd numbers of carbon atoms, as compared with the conversion of individual ethanol. The structural studies performed by extended X-ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS) spectroscopy and transmission electron microscopy showed that the high selectivity of PR-71 can be caused by the formation of bimetallic Pt–Re and Pt–Al clusters in the course of the prolonged preliminary reduction of the catalyst.