Sorbitol Hydrogenolysis to Glycols over Carbon Nanofibers/Graphite-felt Composite-supported Ru Catalyst in a Trickle Bed Reactor

Carbon nanofibers were in-situ grown on graphite-felt, and then Ru was supported to synthesize Ru/CNFs/GF structured catalyst. The comparisons of pressure gradient and reaction results clearly indicated that the Ru/CNFs/GF structured catalyst was more proper than powdered Ru/CNFs catalyst for sorbitol hydrogenolysis in a trickle bed reactor. For the structured catalyst, increasing the linear velocities would increase the sorbitol conversion, but only slightly change the glycols selectivity, which was due to the intensified mass transfer. Nevertheless, increasing the thickness of the carbon nanofibers layer would significantly decrease the glycols selectivity, which was due to the increased diffusion distance for hydrogen and glycols in the mesopores of the carbon nanofibers layer.