Formic acid as a hydrogen donor for catalytic transformations of tar

Abstract

Specific features of the catalytic tar cracking in the presence of formic acid, BEA zeolite and 8% Ni-2.5% Mo/Sibunit catalyst were studied at 350 ◦C and 1.0 MPa pressure. The obtained results evidenced that formic acid can be used as a hydrogen donor during catalytic reactions. The formic acid addition made it possible to perform efficient hydrocracking of heavy feed such as tar. It was found that both the tar conversion and selectivity to light (gasoline-diesel) fractions grew in the sequence: tar < (tar - formic acid) < (tar - formic acid - BEA zeolite)