Low temperature hydrogenolysis of waxes to diesel range gasoline and light alkanes: Comparison of catalytic properties of group 4, 5 and 6 metal hydrides supported on silica–alumina

Abstract

A series of metal hydrides (M = Zr, Hf, Ta, W) supported on silica–alumina were studied for the first time in hydrogenolysis of light alkanes in a continuous flow reactor. It was found that there is a difference in the reaction mechanism between d⁰metal hydrides of group 4 and d⁰ ↔ d²metal hydrides of group 5 and group 6. Furthermore, the potential application of these catalysts has been demonstrated by the transformation of Fischer–Tropsch wax in a reactive distillation set-up into typical gasoline and diesel molecules in high selectivity (up to 86 wt%). Current results show that the group 4 metal hydrides have a promising yield toward liquid fuels.