Glycerol conversion over palladium- and alumina-impregnated KIT-6 for the production of gasoline range hydrocarbons

The use of large pore size catalyst with high surface area is explored in this work by using KIT-6 silica-based mesoporous material for the conversion of glycerol to higher hydrocarbons. Palladium and alumina were incorporated into the KIT-6 for providing Lewis acid sites and removal of oxygen. A decrease in surface area and pore diameter was observed with the incorporation of alumina and palladium on KIT-6. Ethanol was used as diluent as glycerol is viscous in nature and has issues related to flow in the preheater. An increase in the conversion was observed from 78 to 93.7% with the increase in temperature from 400 to 700 °C; however, the liquid yield was observed to decrease above 600 °C. GC (FID) analysis showed that the maximum values (38.9%) for gasoline range hydrocarbons fraction were obtained at 550 °C. No significant effect was observed on the liquid-phase yield with the addition of palladium; however, it was observed that the liquid product obtained in the presence of palladium has higher H/C ratio, indicating the formation of paraffinic compounds and removal of oxygen. GC/MS analysis showed the presence of mostly oxygenated long-chain hydrocarbons.