In a world that is dependent on non-renewable sources of energy, the development of new technologies that harness renewable sources of energy is crucially important. Reduction of levulinic acid with hydrogen or a donor reagent, such as formic acid, which releases hydrogen under certain conditions, in the presence of specific catalysts leads to the synthesis of γ-valerolactone GVL. GVL is an example of a platform molecule. Additionally, GVL can be used as a green solvent or additive in fuels. The aim of this work is to transfer the heterogeneous catalytic reaction of levulinic acid hydrogenation to a continuous flow microreactor. The first part involves a review of existing literature. The second part presents the experimental section, where the catalyst (Ru/C) is first immobilized on a solid substrate, which then serves as the wall of the microreactor. The catalyst immobilization is carried out using two methods: spin coating and soaking. The second part of the experimentation involves testing the efficiency of the catalyst layer on the solid substrate in the continuous flow microreactor. From the obtained results, I made several hypotheses and observations, which I hope will aid in further research and improvement of this reaction system.
|
