The Synthesis of Renewable Hydrocarbons from Different Vegetable Oils and Soapstock by Hydrotreatment over High Metal Loading Supported Ni Catalyst

The catalytic hydrotreatment of sunflower (SO), linseed (LO), coconut (CO), rapeseed (RO), and its soapstock derived acid oil (RS) over commercial Ni65%/SiO2-Al2O3 catalyst was investigated to evaluate utilization feasibility of various vegetable oil feedstocks with different fatty acid content, composition, and saturation for marketable hydrocarbon production. The active metal loading of catalyst was characterized by XRF and its textural properties by N2 sorption analysis. The hydrotreatment tests of different vegetable oils were carried out in solvent free medium, under initial H2 pressure 10 MPa, at operating temperature 340 oC, and residence time 15 min using catalyst amount 5%. GC-FID and GC-MS analysis were used for estimation of dominant n-pentadecane, n-hexadecane, n-heptadecane, n-octadecane, and other hydrocarbon contents in obtained samples. Under studied hydrotreatment conditions complete conversion of different vegetable oils into marketable liquid renewable hydrocarbons without presence of oxygen containing substances was achieved. Highly active Ni65%/SiO2-Al2O3 has remarkable selectivity to hydrocarbons produced by reaction pathways, where elimination of carbonyl groups occurs. The saturation of fatty acids in feedstock determines H2 consumption, but influence on produced hydrocarbon production is insignificant. Depending on the fatty acid composition different saturated linear hydrocarbons with wide range of carbon chain length C5-C19 and similar calorific value 47.16-47.34 MJ/kg were produced in process. Overall liquid hydrocarbon yields were from 44.6 % to 78.1 %. The highest overall liquid saturated linear hydrocarbon yield was observed for feedstock with high amount of long chain fatty acids – SO, LO, RO and RS. Pure hydrocarbons obtained from vegetable oils depending on hydrocarbon composition can be used in various areas.

Catalytic Activity Enhancement of Cu-Zn-Based Catalyst for Methanol Steam Reforming with Magnetic Inducement

Magnetic inducement was applied during metal loading to enhance Cu-Zn catalysts for methanol steam reforming in the temperature range of 200–300 °C. The supports used in this study were the γ-Al2O3 support and CeO2-Al2O3 supports prepared under different magnetic environments. Cu-Zn loading between the north and south poles (N-S) on the CeO2-Al2O3 support, prepared between two north poles (N-N), led to the highest H2 production at 300 °C (2796 ± 76 µmol/min), which is triple that of Cu-Zn/CeO2-Al2O3 prepared without magnetic inducement and ~11-fold the activity of the Cu-Zn/Al2O3 reference catalyst. The N-S magnetic environment during metal loading leads to lower reduction temperatures and larger Cu(1+):Cu(2+) ratio. These results showed that the pole arrangement of magnets during metal loading could affect the catalytic activity of the Cu-Zn catalyst owing to its influence on the reducibility and the oxidation state of Cu active metal.