A Clean Hydroprocessing of Jatropha Oil into Biofuels over a High Performance Ni-HPW/CNT Catalyst

The nickel (Ni) and phosphotungstic acid (HPW) supported on carbon nanotubes (CNT) were prepared by impregnation method for hydroprocessing of Jatropha oil. The Ni-HPW/CNT catalyst was characterized by XRD, XPS, FT-IR, N-2 adsorption-desorption, SEM, NH3-TPD, and TGA. The effects of reaction parameters, such as reaction temperature (280-400 degrees C), time-on-stream (0-100 h), types of support, the amount of added HPW, and coking deposition were investigated. The cracking performance was evaluated by gas chromatography (GC). The yield of C15-C18 alkanes was 88.5 wt.%, Iso/n ratio was 0.8 and conversion was 97.7% at 320 degrees C, 3.0MPa and 1.0/h over the Ni-HPW/CNT catalyst, while the yield of < C15 alkanes reached 51.9 wt.% at 400 degrees C. The distribution of products could be adjusted by reaction temperature. The cracking performance was elevated by the addition of HPW and the electrical conductivity. The C15-C18 alkanes were further cracked through two cracking circulations. Meanwhile, the catalyst was used without sulfurization and the cracking process was green.