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Kinetics of the degradation by catalytic hydrogenation of tyrosol, a model molecule present in olive oil waste waters
Author(s) -
Richard Dominique,
DelgadoNuñez María de Lourdes
Publication year - 2003
Publication title -
journal of chemical technology and biotechnology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.64
H-Index - 117
eISSN - 1097-4660
pISSN - 0268-2575
DOI - 10.1002/jctb.876
Subject(s) - tyrosol , catalysis , hydroxytyrosol , chemistry , adsorption , kinetics , phenols , polyphenol , ruthenium , organic chemistry , degradation (telecommunications) , nuclear chemistry , activated carbon , antioxidant , telecommunications , physics , quantum mechanics , computer science
Olive mill wastewaters (OMW) constitute an important environmental problem due, among other things, to their high phenolic content. The phytotoxicity of polyphenols makes them resistant to biological treatment. A three‐step process comprising adsorption–concentration, catalytic hydrogenation and regeneration on a fixed bed of adsorbent–catalyst was investigated to remove such compounds. Tyrosol (2‐(4‐hydroxyphenyl)‐ethanol) was taken as representative of the polyphenols present in OMW. The catalytic hydrogenation of tyrosol by 30 g kg −1 ruthenium/activated carbon catalyst was carried out in order to establish the reaction mechanism and kinetics necessary for the design of a pilot‐scale reactor. Total conversion of tyrosol into non‐aromatic compounds was achieved under mild conditions of temperature and pressure. The overall rate of tyrosol removal at 4 MPa and 353 K was $\hbox{11.26 g h}^{-1} \hbox{g}^{-1}_{\rm{catalyst}}$ . Copyright © 2003 Society of Chemical Industry