186 Producing Fuels and Fine Chemicals from Biomass Using Nanomaterials
Zeolites are the main catalyst species utilized in large scale processes of the
petroleum rening industry when acidic catalysts are required such as in the uid
catalytic cracking (FCC) process or isomerization and alkylation reactions. Zeolites
are alumosilicates with a highly crystalline and mainly microporous structure [13].
They can act as Brønsted as well as Lewis acids. In conventional catalytic processes
in the industry, zeolites are used in gas phase processes at temperatures of several
hundreds of degree celsius. In contrast, the hydrolytic decomposition of cellulose has
to be carried out in the liquid state at moderate temperatures and in polar and maybe
ev