Hydrocracking optimization of palm oil over NiMoO4/activated carbon catalyst to produce biogasoline and kerosine

Abstract

Abstract The conversion of palm oil into biofuel is continuing interest in a green alternative fuel. Catalytic hydrocracking palm oil into biofuels was carried out by NiMoO4/activated carbon catalyst. The catalyst was first designed from nanoparticle NiO–MoO3 supported by activated carbon from palm kernel shell and characterized using X-ray crystallography, Fourier transform infrared, and scanning electron microscope with energy dispersive X-ray. The efficiency of the catalyst was evaluated for the conversion of palm oil into biogasoline and kerosene using the hydrocracking process at different temperatures (150, 250, and 350°C). The resulting catalytic hydrocracking is liquid biofuels, which is analyzed using GC–MC to determine its fractions: biogasoline (C5–C10) and kerosine (C11–C16). The optimum condition of catalytic hydrocracking was obtained at a temperature of 150°C resulting in two primary fractions classified into biogasoline (37.83%) consisting of n-nonane (C9) and 1-heptene (C7) and kerosine (61.34%) consisting of three primary fractions, n-pentadecane (C15), hexadecene (C16), and 1-undecene (C11). The result of this study proved that the NiMoO4/activated carbon catalyst plays an important role in catalytic hydrocracking and becomes a promising alternative catalyst for the preparation of biofuels.