Public defence in Chemical Engineering, M.Sc. (Tech.) Emma Verkama

Title of the thesis: Noble metal catalysts for the hydrodeoxygenation and hydrodenitrogenation of fatty amides

Doctoral student: M.Sc. (Tech.) Emma Verkama
Opponent: Professor Justin Hargreaves, University of Glasgow, United Kingdom
Custos: Professor Riikka Puurunen, Aalto University School of Chemical Engineering, Department of Chemical and Metallurgical Engineering

Noble metal catalysts for the hydrotreatment of renewable feedstocks to fuels

The development of active catalysts for simultaneous hydrodeoxygenation (HDO) and hydrodenitrogenation (HDN) is important for the processing of renewable feedstocks to fuels. In this thesis, the hydrotreatment of fatty amides and their derivatives was studied on supported noble metal catalysts.
Competitive HDO and HDN reactions in the reaction network were studied by co-hydrotreating palmitic acid and 1-tetradecylamine over Pt/ZrO2. HDO proceeded more efficiently than HDN regardless of the feed composition. The preferential HDO of the oxygen-containing compounds and formation of secondary amides and amines via condensation reactions inhibited the HDN of 1-tetradecylamine in the co-hydrotreating experiments. 
The hydrotreatment of n-hexadecanamide was studied over Pt catalysts supported on various inorganic oxides, different active metals supported on ZrO2, and bimetallic catalysts supported on CeO2-ZrO2. The Lewis acid properties of the support influenced the activity and selectivity for the initial n-hexadecanamide conversion route, and the conversion of the oxygen-containing intermediate products. Meanwhile, the active metal influenced the activity and selectivity for condensation reactions and for the formation of n-paraffins from the intermediate products. HDO proceeded more efficiently than HDN on the studied catalysts. The combination of Ni with a noble metal was particularly beneficial for the catalytic activity, and the RuNi/CeO2-ZrO2 catalyst exhibited the highest activity and selectivity towards the formation of n-pentadecane out of the studied catalysts.
The results of this thesis brought new insights into the influence of the catalyst composition on the activity, selectivity and reaction network in the hydrotreatment of fatty amides to n-paraffins.

Thesis available for public display 10 days prior to the defence Contact information:
M.Sc. (Tech.) Emma Verkama
[email protected] 

Doctoral theses in the School of Chemical Engineering

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