Deoxygenation of methyl laurate: influence of cation and mesoporosity in fau zeolites

Abstract

Catalytic activity of materials prepared by means of sodium ion-exchange by potassium and cesium in NaY zeolite, was studied in the deoxygenation of methyl laurate, as biodiesel model compound. The increase of the Ion-exchange produced a basicity increase that leads to a lower deactivation in the deoxygenation of methyl laurate, reaching a steady conversion of about 92% for 4 h (time on stream, TOS) with the CsKY zeolite. However, the potassium ion exchange leaded to higher production of bio-hydrocarbons, especially unsaturated (96% of the C10, C11 and C12 production), with higher production of C11 by means of decarbonylation. Furthermore, mesoporosity on the KY zeolite was generated, using SDBS (sodium dodecylbenzene sulphonate) during the synthesis, with the aim of increasing its capacity to process bulky molecules. The presence of mesoporosity in the potassium zeolite allowed a higher tolerance to deactivation maintaining a steady conversion of about 90% for 4 h TOS. The yield to desirable products (C10 to C12 hydrocarbons) was about 37%. Therefore, biofuel upgrading can be carried out using potassium Y zeolite with mesoporosity.