CATALYSTS BASED ON Ru-Fe SUPPORTED ON TITANIA FOR HYDROGENATION OF METHYL PALMITATE TOWARDS CETHYL ALCOHOL

Abstract

Ru-Fe catalytic system supported on titania for the selective hydrogenation of methyl palmitate towards the cetyl alcohol product was studied. The Ru-Fe-based catalysts supported on TiO2 were prepared by the wet coimpregnation method: Ru, as active metal and Fe, as a catalytic promoter, supported on TiO2 , synthesized by the sol-gel method, which allowed better textural properties with respect to commercial support. Sorption analysis of N2(g) showed type IV isotherms with cylindrical pores and XRD diffractograms revealed profiles similar to the support, suggesting high metal dispersion. The reduction profiles of the Ru-Fe/TiO2 catalysts showed a shift of the hydrogen consumption peaks towards higher temperatures with the increase of the metal loading, indicating a possible metal-support interaction. TPD-H2 analysis showed that the Ru-Fe catalysts supported on titania presented more types of hydrogen adsorption than their monometallic counterpart. The reaction was carried out in a batch reactor of non-continuous flow of H2(g) at 280 °C and 5.5 MPa of pressure. The reaction products corresponding to the catalyst 10% Ru(4)/Fe(1) system showed a high conversion of 90% and 12% selectivity towards cetyl alcohol, possibly due to the ability of the catalyst to store more selective H2 promoted by metal-support interactions.