HYDROGENATION OF ABIES WOOD AND ETHANOL-LIGNIN BY MOLECULAR HYDROGEN IN SUPERCRITI-CAL ETHANOL OVER BIFUNCTIONAL RU/C CATALYST

The effect of a bifunctional catalyst containing nano-dispersed ruthenium particles on an oxidized carbon support “Sibunit” on the yield and composition of products in the processes of hydrogenation of abies wood and abies ethanol-lignin in a supercritical ethanol medium at 250° C was studied. The presence of Ru/C catalyst resulted in a raise the ethanol-lignin conversion from 85 to 98 wt.%, the yield of liquid product from 75 to 85 wt.%, the yield of gases – by 1.5 times, but the yield of solid products dropped from 14 to 2.8 wt.%. Ruthenium catalyst increased the conversion of abies wood by 12.5 wt.%, but did not affect the yield of liquid products. The yield of the solid residue in the presence of the catalyst was reduced by 12.5 wt.%, and the yield of gases rose by 2.5 times. Simultaneously, the ruthenium catalyst promoted the process of hydrodeoxygenation of liquid products, diminution their average molecular mass from 1174 g/mol to 827 g/mol and the formation of monomeric and dimeric compounds with a molecular mass 193 and 426 g/mol, respectively. The solid residue of catalytic hydrogenation contained 70.1 wt.% of cellulose. Thus, the application of Ru/C catalyst in the process of hydrogenation of abies wood allowed the reductive fractionation of wood biomass into a solid cellulose product, liquid and gaseous products from lignin and hemicelluloses.