Alkene and benzene derivate obtained from catalytic reforming of acetone-butanol-ethanol (ABE) from carbohydrates fermentation broth

Abstract

Acetone-butanol-ethanol can be widely obtained from biomass fermentation broth. In the article, the catalytic deoxygenation of the acetone-butanol-ethanol mixture are studied to upgrade the ABE to chemicals such as alkene and benzene derivate in a continuous fixed bed. The experiment was run at room pressure and in the temperature range of 240–320 °C using inert N2 or H2 as carrier gases as well as different WHSV to observe the effect on the deoxygenation products distribution. The results showed that ketones, long chain alkenes, cycloolefine (C9C13, 17.44%) and benzene derivate (C7C15, 15.77%) were obtained as the main products by catalytic deoxygenation of acetone-butanol-ethanol. Compared with single support catalysts NiSn/MCM-41 and NiSn/γ-Al2O3, the mixed support catalysts NiSn/MCM-41+γ-Al2O3 possessed moderate BET surface, acidic sites and good resistant ability to carbon deposition, which promoted the formation of benzene derivate,2-heptanone (8.32%) and 5-undecene (11.84%). The study supplies the data for producing long chain alkene, cycloolefine and benzene derivate from short chain precursors via combining the bio-technology and chemical conversion.