Nickel-Alumina Catalysts for the Transformation of Vegetable Oils into Green Diesel: The Role of Preparation Method, Activation Temperature, and Reaction Conditions

Two nickel alumina catalysts containing 60 wt. % Ni were synthesized by wet impregnation and co-precipitation in order to study the effect of preparation methods on the catalytic efficiency concerning the transformation of sunflower oil into green diesel. The effect of activation temperature on the catalytic efficiency of the most active catalyst was also studied. The catalysts were characterized using various techniques and which were evaluated in the aforementioned reaction using a semi-batch reactor. The catalyst prepared by co-precipitation exhibited a higher specific surface area and smaller mean crystal size of the nickel nanoparticle (higher nickel metallic surface). These justify its higher efficiency with respect to the corresponding catalyst synthesized by wet impregnation. The increase in the activation temperature from 400 to 600 degrees C increased the size of the nickel nanoparticles through sintering, thus destroying the small pores. These led to a decrease in the nickel surface and specific surface area and, thus, to a decrease in the catalytic efficiency. The optimization of the reaction conditions over the most active catalyst (prepared by co-precipitation and activated at 400 degrees C) leads to the complete transformation not only of the sunflower oil (edible oil) but also of waste cooking oil (non-edible oil) into green diesel. The liquid produced after the hydrotreatment for these two feedstocks for 7 h, at H-2 pressure 40 bar and temperature 350 degrees C using 100 mL of oil and 1 g of catalyst was composed of 97 and 96 wt. % of green diesel, respectively.

Automated summary

Two nickel alumina catalysts were synthesized by different methods and evaluated for their catalytic efficiency in the transformation of sunflower oil into green diesel. The catalyst prepared by co-precipitation showed higher efficiency due to its higher specific surface area and smaller nickel nanoparticle size compared to the catalyst prepared by wet impregnation. Increasing the activation temperature resulted in larger nickel nanoparticles and decreased catalytic efficiency. The optimized reaction conditions achieved complete transformation of sunflower oil and waste cooking oil into green diesel with high yield.