Benzene–toluene–xylene (BTX) from p-cresol by hydrodeoxygenation over nickel phosphide catalysts with different supports

Ni 2 P catalysts supported on different supports, such as SiO 2 from different sources, Al 2 O 3 , TiO 2 and ZrO 2 were prepared for the hydrodeoxygenation of p-cresol (monocyclic phenol model in coal tar). The reaction was carried out on a fixed-bed reactor at a temperature of 330–390 °C under 2 MPa. The order of conversion of p-cresol was as follows: Ni 2 P/SiO 2 -2 > Ni 2 P/SiO 2 -3 > Ni 2 P/SiO 2 -1 > Ni 2 P/Al 2 O 3  > Ni 2 P/ZrO 2  > Ni 2 P/TiO 2 . Ni 2 P/SiO 2 -3 shown higher DDO path selectivity, resulting in the conversion of p-cresol of 93% and a selectivity of 72.6% for BTX products under the reaction temperature of 370 °C with LHSV of 0.5 h −1 . This catalyst was also used for the hydrodeoxygenation of the crude phenolic mixture extracted from coal tar, which shown that the phenol deoxidation rate was 87.6% and the BTX product selectivity was 73.7% by GC–MS.