Aromatic Hydrocarbon Production from Bio-Oil by a Dual-Stage Hydrogenation-Cocracking Process: Furfural as a Model Compound

Bio-oil upgrading by catalytic cracking faces problems of low aromatic hydrocarbon yield and coking because of its hydrogen-lacking property. In this work, an improved hydrogenation-cocracking process was developed to achieve the appropriate hydrogen supply in two stages. Furfural was selected as the model compound of bio-oil, and methanol was the coreactant. The hydrogen supply in the hydrogenation stage was successfully regulated by hydrogenation catalysts, and the 5Ni-5Cu/SiO2 catalyst exhibited the best performance because of a suitable degree of hydrogenation of furfural over it, which favored the formation of aromatic hydrocarbons during cracking. With the optimum 5Ni-5Cu/SiO2 catalyst, hydrogenation cocracking was compared with single-stage cocracking, hydrogenation cracking, and direct cracking processes. The results confirmed that hydrogen supplements by hydrogenation pretreatment and methanol cocracking were both significant for the generation of aromatic hydrocarbons and the suppression of coke...