Kinetics of Upgrading of Anisole with Hydrogen Catalyzed by Platinum Supported on Alumina

Kinetics of the reactions of anisole, a model compound representative of lignin-derived bio-oils, with H2, catalyzed by Pt/Al2O3, were investigated with a fixed-bed tubular microflow reactor at 573–673 K, 8–14 bar, and space velocities in the range of 3–240 (g of anisole)/(g of catalyst × h). Selectivity–conversion data were used as a basis to propose an approximate reaction network and estimate parameters in approximate rate equations. The reactions include the following: anisole conversion to phenol by hydrogenolysis, to 2-methylphenol by transalkylation, to 2,4-dimethylphenol, 2,4,6-trimethylphenol, and 2,3,5,6-tetramethylphenol by transalkylation and alkylation, to benzene by hydrodeoxygenation (HDO), and to hexamethylbenzene by HDO and alkylation. The primary reactions are satisfactorily represented with the approximation that each is first-order in the organic reactant. The apparent activation energy for the hydrogenolysis reaction that leads to phenol formation is approximately 25.3 kJ/mol, and the...