Parametric Study of Pt/C-Catalysed Hydrothermal Decarboxylation of Butyric Acid as a Potential Route for Biopropane Production
Sustainable fuel-range hydrocarbons can be produced via the catalytic decarboxylation of biomass-derived carboxylic acids without the need for hydrogen addition. In this present study, 5 wt% platinum on carbon (Pt/C) has been found to be an effective catalyst for hydrothermally decarboxylating butyr...
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doaj-96c243e6c5d64f21ac823f180265f0412021-06-30T23:22:31ZengMDPI AGEnergies1996-10732021-06-01143316331610.3390/en14113316Parametric Study of Pt/C-Catalysed Hydrothermal Decarboxylation of Butyric Acid as a Potential Route for Biopropane ProductionIram Razaq0Keith E. Simons1Jude A. Onwudili2Energy and Bioproducts Research Institute, College of Engineering and Physical Sciences, Aston University, Birmingham B4 7ET, UKSustainable Fuels, SHV Energy, 2132 JL Hoofddorp, The NetherlandsEnergy and Bioproducts Research Institute, College of Engineering and Physical Sciences, Aston University, Birmingham B4 7ET, UKSustainable fuel-range hydrocarbons can be produced via the catalytic decarboxylation of biomass-derived carboxylic acids without the need for hydrogen addition. In this present study, 5 wt% platinum on carbon (Pt/C) has been found to be an effective catalyst for hydrothermally decarboxylating butyric acid in order to produce mainly propane and carbon dioxide. However, optimisation of the reaction conditions is required to minimise secondary reactions and increase hydrocarbon selectivity towards propane. To do this, reactions using the catalyst with varying parameters such as reaction temperatures, residence times, feedstock loading and bulk catalyst loading were carried out in a batch reactor. The highest yield of propane obtained was 47 wt% (close to the theoretical decarboxylation yield of 50 wt% on butyric acid basis), corresponding to a 96% hydrocarbon selectivity towards propane. The results showed that the optimum parameters to produce the highest yield of propane, from the range investigated, were 0.5 g butyric acid (0.57 M aqueous solution), 1.0 g Pt/C (50 mg Pt content) at 300 °C for 1 h. The reusability of the catalyst was also investigated, which showed little or no loss of catalytic activity after four cycles. This work has shown that Pt/C is a suitable and potentially hydrothermally stable heterogeneous catalyst for making biopropane, a major component of bioLPG, from aqueous butyric acid solutions, which can be sourced from bio-derived feedstocks via acetone-butanol-ethanol (ABE) fermentation.https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/14/11/3316hydrothermal decarboxylationbutyric acidbiopropanebioLPGcatalysisPt/C |
collection |
DOAJ |
language |
English |
format |
Article |
sources |
DOAJ |
author |
Iram Razaq Keith E. Simons Jude A. Onwudili |
spellingShingle |
Iram Razaq Keith E. Simons Jude A. Onwudili Parametric Study of Pt/C-Catalysed Hydrothermal Decarboxylation of Butyric Acid as a Potential Route for Biopropane Production Energies hydrothermal decarboxylation butyric acid biopropane bioLPG catalysis Pt/C |
author_facet |
Iram Razaq Keith E. Simons Jude A. Onwudili |
author_sort |
Iram Razaq |
title |
Parametric Study of Pt/C-Catalysed Hydrothermal Decarboxylation of Butyric Acid as a Potential Route for Biopropane Production |
title_short |
Parametric Study of Pt/C-Catalysed Hydrothermal Decarboxylation of Butyric Acid as a Potential Route for Biopropane Production |
title_full |
Parametric Study of Pt/C-Catalysed Hydrothermal Decarboxylation of Butyric Acid as a Potential Route for Biopropane Production |
title_fullStr |
Parametric Study of Pt/C-Catalysed Hydrothermal Decarboxylation of Butyric Acid as a Potential Route for Biopropane Production |
title_full_unstemmed |
Parametric Study of Pt/C-Catalysed Hydrothermal Decarboxylation of Butyric Acid as a Potential Route for Biopropane Production |
title_sort |
parametric study of pt/c-catalysed hydrothermal decarboxylation of butyric acid as a potential route for biopropane production |
publisher |
MDPI AG |
series |
Energies |
issn |
1996-1073 |
publishDate |
2021-06-01 |
description |
Sustainable fuel-range hydrocarbons can be produced via the catalytic decarboxylation of biomass-derived carboxylic acids without the need for hydrogen addition. In this present study, 5 wt% platinum on carbon (Pt/C) has been found to be an effective catalyst for hydrothermally decarboxylating butyric acid in order to produce mainly propane and carbon dioxide. However, optimisation of the reaction conditions is required to minimise secondary reactions and increase hydrocarbon selectivity towards propane. To do this, reactions using the catalyst with varying parameters such as reaction temperatures, residence times, feedstock loading and bulk catalyst loading were carried out in a batch reactor. The highest yield of propane obtained was 47 wt% (close to the theoretical decarboxylation yield of 50 wt% on butyric acid basis), corresponding to a 96% hydrocarbon selectivity towards propane. The results showed that the optimum parameters to produce the highest yield of propane, from the range investigated, were 0.5 g butyric acid (0.57 M aqueous solution), 1.0 g Pt/C (50 mg Pt content) at 300 °C for 1 h. The reusability of the catalyst was also investigated, which showed little or no loss of catalytic activity after four cycles. This work has shown that Pt/C is a suitable and potentially hydrothermally stable heterogeneous catalyst for making biopropane, a major component of bioLPG, from aqueous butyric acid solutions, which can be sourced from bio-derived feedstocks via acetone-butanol-ethanol (ABE) fermentation. |
topic |
hydrothermal decarboxylation butyric acid biopropane bioLPG catalysis Pt/C |
url |
https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/14/11/3316 |
work_keys_str_mv |
AT iramrazaq parametricstudyofptccatalysedhydrothermaldecarboxylationofbutyricacidasapotentialrouteforbiopropaneproduction AT keithesimons parametricstudyofptccatalysedhydrothermaldecarboxylationofbutyricacidasapotentialrouteforbiopropaneproduction AT judeaonwudili parametricstudyofptccatalysedhydrothermaldecarboxylationofbutyricacidasapotentialrouteforbiopropaneproduction |
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