ACTIVITY AND SELECTIVITY OF 1% Ru/CeO2-Al2O3 CATALYSTS FOR THE OXIDATION OF PHENOL SOLUTIONS

MASSA; IVORRA; HAURE; MEDINA CABELLO; FENOGLIO

Rio de Janeiro, Brasil

Congreso; 2nd Mercosur Congress on Chemical Engineering and 4th Mercosur Congress on Process Systems Engineering; 2005

The catalytic oxidation of phenol solutions (5 g/L) has been studied in a trickle bed reactor operated at 140º C and 7 atm of oxygen pressure. Activity screening experiments were performed over several 1%Ru/CeO2-Al2O3 catalysts. The catalysts were prepared by different methods: impregnation, co-impregnation, co-precipitation and surfactant. Phenol conversion as well as chemical oxygen demand was recorded from liquid samples obtained at steady state conditions. The preparation method influences the performance of the 1%Ru/CeO2-Al2O3 catalysts. Phenol conversion diminished with reaction time. Deactivation was attributed to deposition of carbonaceous residues on the catalytic surface and to the formation of boehmite phase on the support, as confirmed by additional experiments performed with reoxidized used catalysts. Almost complete selectivity toward CO2 was obtained for all the samples, after 50 hours of operation.