Catalytic Hydrotreating of Crude Pongamia pinnata Oil to Bio-Hydrogenated Diesel over Sulfided NiMo Catalyst

Yuwadee Plaola,Kunlanan Kiatkittipong,Apiluck Eiad-Ua,Worapon Kiatkittipong,Jun Wei Lim,Wanwipa Leangsiri,Kanokthip Pongsiriyakul,Suttichai Assabumrungrat,Atthapon Srifa,Prasert Reubroycharoen

doi:10.3390/en15041547

Abstract

This work studied the catalytic activity and stability of Ni-MoS2 supported on γ-Al2O3, SiO2, and TiO2 toward deoxygenation of different feedstocks, i.e., crude Pongamia pinnata oil (PPO) and refined palm olein (RPO). PPO was used as a renewable feedstock for bio-hydrogenated diesel production via catalytic hydrotreating under a temperature of 330 °C, H2 pressure of 50 bar, WHSV of 1.5 h−1, and H2/oil (v/v) of 1000 cm3/cm3 under continuous operation. The oil yield from a Soxhlet extraction of PPO was up to 26 wt.% on a dry basis, mainly consisting of C18 fatty acids. The catalytic activity in terms of conversion and diesel yield was in the same trend as increasing in the order of NiMo/γ-Al2O3 > NiMo/TiO2 > NiMo/SiO2. The hydrodeoxygenation (HDO) activity was more favorable over the sulfided NiMo supported on γ-Al2O3 and TiO2, while a high DCO was observed over the sulfided NiMo/SiO2 catalyst, which related to the properties of the support material and the intensity of metal–support interaction. The deactivation of NiMo/SiO2 and NiMo/TiO2 occurred in a short period, due to the phosphorus and alkali impurities in PPO which were not found in the case of RPO. NiMo/γ-Al2O3 exhibited the high resistance of impure feedstock with excellent stability. This indicates that the catalytic performance is influenced by the purity of the feedstock as well as the characteristics of the catalysts.

Highlights

Introduction conditions of the Creative CommonsIn recent years, the use of uncertain and insecure petroleum energy has been suggested as a major problem causing carbon dioxide emissions, which directly affect global climate change [1,2]
Triglycerides in vegetable oils and animal fats, mainly consisting of C16 –C18 fatty acids, have been utilized as important feedstocks for the production of renewable fuels due to their similar carbon chain length to diesel fuel. Edible vegetable oils such as soybean oil [3], rapeseed oil [4], sunflower oil [5], and palm oil [6] have been employed as sources of triglyceride-based feedstock for biofuel production
Pongamia pinnata seed was approximately 26% based on the dry weight of Pongamia pinnata seeds

Summary

Introduction

Introduction conditions of the Creative CommonsIn recent years, the use of uncertain and insecure petroleum energy has been suggested as a major problem causing carbon dioxide emissions, which directly affect global climate change [1,2]. Triglycerides in vegetable oils and animal fats, mainly consisting of C16 –C18 fatty acids, have been utilized as important feedstocks for the production of renewable fuels due to their similar carbon chain length to diesel fuel. To avoid the competitive issue of food supplies, several non-food feedstocks, such as inedible byproducts, e.g., palm fatty acid distillate [7,8], non-edible oil (e.g., Jatropha oil, rubber seed oil, and tall oil) [9,10], waste oils (e.g., waste cooking oils and waste animal fat) [11,12], and novel feedstocks (e.g., algae [13]), have received increased attention for biofuel production

Methods

Results

Conclusion