Hydroconversion of fatty acid derivative over supported Ni-Mo catalysts under low hydrogen pressure

The hydroconversion of methyl laurate (ML) to hydrocarbons has been carried out over Ni and/or Mo supported on γ-Al₂O₃ catalysts under a low hydrogen pressure of 0.4 MPa. The sulfur-free Ni-Mo/γ-Al₂O₃ catalyst prepared by co-impregnation of Ni species with Mo species exhibited remarkably higher conversion of ML (56.6%) in comparison with Ni/γ-Al₂O₃ (25.3%) and Mo/γ-Al₂O₃ (1.4%). Ni-Mo/γ-Al₂O₃ predominantly produced n-undecane through the hydrodecarbonylation/hydrodecarboxylation process, while accelerated the hydrodeoxygenation reaction to produce n-dodecane. Synergistic effects between Ni and Mo species were enhanced with a high Mo content in Ni-Mo/γ-Al₂O₃ to promote the hydroconversion of ML and the hydrodeoxygenation reaction, and to suppress the hydrocraking of hydrocarbon products as well as the methanation of CO/CO₂. Furthermore, specific synergistic effects in the Ni-Mo catalyst emerged in the range of Ni/Mo atomic ratios of 1 ∼ 3 to further promote the hydrodeoxygenation reaction for the formation of n-dodecane.