Styrene selective hydrogenation catalysed by Pd, Pt, Ru and Rh supported on Al2O3

J.M. BADANO; M.E. QUIROGA; L'ARGENTIERE, PABLO CÉSAR

TURKU/ÁBO-FInlandia

Congreso; EUROPACAT VIII; 2007

Selective hydrogenation is a process in which only the partial elimination of unsaturations is necessary. This is the case for the selective hydrogenation of pyrolisis gasolines (PYGAS), one of the product streams from the thermal decomposition of heavier oil fractions. Ethylene and propylene are usually obtained via this thermal decomposition. PYGAS contains approximately 15 wt% of diolefins and styrene, which need to be hydrogenated to prevent gum formation in later processes or during storage [1]. The hydrogenation must be selective without modification of the valuable aromatic nucleus. The objective of this work is to obtain different metallic catalysts (Pd, Pt, Ru, Rh) supported on g-Al2O3 and to study their behavior in the selective hydrogenation of styrene. Styrene was chosen as the model component to be hydrogenated since this is one of the slower reactive components which should be removed.