Production of liquid fuel intermediates from furfural via aldol condensation over potassium-promoted Sn-MFI catalyst

• Published in: Fuel (Guildford) Vol. 237; pp. 1281 - 1290
• Main Authors: Li, Wenzhi, Su, Mingxue, Zhang, Tingwei, Ma, Qiaozhi, Fan, Wei
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Kidlington Elsevier Ltd 01.02.2019; Elsevier BV
• Subjects: Acetone; Aldehydes; Aldol condensation; Basicity; Catalysis; Catalysts; Catalytic activity; Condensates; Condensation; Furfural; Intermediates; Lewis acid; Lewis acid zeolite; Liquid fuels; Potassium; Potassium promoted; Selectivity; Water resistance; Zeolites; Furfural; Lewis acid zeolite; Potassium promoted; Aldol condensation
• ISSN: 0016-2361; 1873-7153
• DOI: 10.1016/j.fuel.2018.10.094

•High yield of total aldol products was achieved over potassium-promoted Sn-MFI compared with pure Sn-MFI.•The introduction of K improved the hydrothermal stability of the catalyst.•The introduction of K enhanced the F2Ac selectivity. Liquid fuel intermediates can be produced via aldol condensation reactions between furfural and acetone. It was found that potassium-promoted Lewis acid zeolite Sn-MFI performed superior catalytic performance for CC bond coupling by aldol condensation reactions of furfural with acetone. The presence of K in Sn-MFI catalyst improves the catalytic activity of the catalyst likely due to increased basicity. The product distribution of aldol condensation was also changed remarkably with the addition of K. Besides 4-(2-furyl)-3-buten-2-one (FAc), 1, 5-di-2-furanyl-1, 4-pentadien-3-one (F2Ac) was also formed in the existence of K compared with pure Sn-MFI. It was also found that the K-promoted Sn-MFI catalyst is more resistant to water and exhibits enhanced selectivity to F2Ac.