Green synthesis of hierarchical porous carbon prepared from coconut lumber sawdust as Ni-based catalyst support for hydrotreating Callophyllum inophyllum oil
Wega Trisunaryanti, Karto Wijaya, Triyono Triyono, Anggita Rahma Adriani, Savitri Larasati
Abstract
In this work, hydrotreating Callophyllum inophyllum oil (CIO) was performed using hierarchical porous carbon (HPC) supported catalyst prepared from a massively produced waste, coconut lumber sawdust (Cocos nucifera L.), using only K2CO3 as activating agent for a green process. Coconut lumber sawdust was carbonized at 700 °C for 2 h to obtain coke as starting material. The produced coke was then activated at various furnace temperature and K2CO3/Coke weight ratio to generate six different types of HPC supports: HPC2-600, HPC2-700, HPC3-600, HPC3-700, HPC4-600, and HPC4-700. Iodine value has shown that HPC prepared at 700 °C h using K2CO3/Coke weight ratio of 3 (HPC3-700) exhibited the best adsorptive capacity, thus, depicting the most promising potential as a hydrotreating catalyst. In the hydrotreatment of CIO at 550 °C for 2 h using 1:300 (catalyst:feed) weight ratio, with a small addition of Ni to the pore (2.76 wt%), Ni/HPC3-700 catalyst, possessing 400.6 m2 g−1 BET surface area and 1.076 mmol g−1 acidity value, was able to produce a satisfying result by yielding over 74 wt% liquid product with 65 wt% hydrocarbon compounds. According to reusability study, although a gradual decrease of deoxygenation effectivity can be reflected through a declining hydrocarbon production, the level of liquid product generated by the catalyst remained consistent after its 3rd use in the hydrotreatment. The use of a low-cost high performing catalyst for hydrotreating a highly available non-edible oil in this study has offered a more sustainable and economical biofuel production with an environmental benefit.