Hydrodeoxygenation of Refined Palm Kernel Oil Into Bioavtur Using Spray-Dry Impregnated Activated Carbon Supported-Mo Catalysts

The research was done to study the activity and selectivity of spray-dry Mo-impregnated catalysts on activated carbon for hydrodeoxygenation (HDO) of refined palm kernel oil (RPKO). This research was done by refining the palm kernel oil with degumming method. synthesizing Mo/C catalyst by impregnating ammonium heptamolybdate tetrahydrate ((NH4)6Mo7O24 4H2O) onto activated carbon by spray-dry impregnation, calcinating, and then reducing. The HDO reaction was done on RPKO feed with Mo/C catalysts with H2gas flow. The catalyst was characterized using FT-IR, XRD, SEM-EDX, nitrogen desorption with Brunnauer-Emmet-Teller (BET) and Barrett-Joyner-Teller (BJH) equation, and NH3-TPD. After HDO reaction using 3 different Mo/C catalysts, the 15-Mo/C catalyst had the highest acidity among catalysts containing Mo metal at 1.1472 mmol g-1, catalyst area of 12.31 m2g-1and a pore diameter of 6.13 nm. The 15-Mo/C catalyst produced liquid product conversion of 42.52wt%, with a bioavtur yield of 41.28wt%. The 5-Mo/C and 10-Mo/C catalysts produced liquid products of 35.40 and 38.35wt% with bioavtur yields of 33.48 and 36.09wt%, respectively. The 15-Mo/C catalyst had a promising performance during the second HDO run produced a liquid product of 36.11wt% and a bioavtur yield of 34.16wt% while the third run produced a liquid product conversion of 32.84wt% with a bioavtur yield of 31.24wt%.