The Pt/-Al2O3 catalyst proved to be the most active for hydrothermal HDN of pyridine, and we report the effects of batch holding time, reaction temperature, catalyst loading, initial hydrogen pressure, and water density on the Pt/-Al2O3-catalyzed HDN of pyridine in supercritical water. The latter two process variables had the greatest influence on the product yields and distribution. Conditions were identified that lead to essentially 100% conversion of pyridine to N-free hydrocarbons. The catalyst shows some modest loss in activity upon being reused.
An HDN reaction network for pyridine under hydrothermal conditions was proposed. The
main HDN products are n-butane and n-pentane. Nitrogen was removed as ammonia.