Catalytic Deoxygenation of Model and Realistic Feeds to Fuel-like Hydrocarbons over Supported Nickel-Copper Catalysts
Grade Level at Time of Presentation
Senior
Major
Civil Engineering
Minor
Physics
Institution
Kentucky State University
KY House District #
88
KY Senate District #
88
Faculty Advisor/ Mentor
Kazi Javed
Department
Dept. of Mathematics and Science
Abstract
The goal was to make a renewable fuel by using catalysts to remove oxygen molecules from fats. This is a current issue that society faces today because nonrenewable fossil fuels hurt the environment more than they help it. There are two components that make up a heterogeneous catalyst, a support and a reduced metal active phase. The active metal phases Nickel, Palladium, Platinum have been studied in the past on an alumina and carbon supports. We were investigating other supports using Nickel as the active phase component to determine the effect the support has on the catalyst removing oxygen of Tristearin (model lipid compound) in a semi-batch reactor at 260 degrees Celsius at a 3 hours reaction time. We believe that the 20% Nickel supported by Zirconia gave us the best results under these conditions. We want these catalyst supports to produce long hydrocarbons that can be converted into renewable fuels such as diesel. The 20% Ni/ZrO2 had the highest diesel like hydrocarbon selectivity at 96%. The conversion rate of the catalyst support was 45 % which is rather successful compared to the other tested supports.
Catalytic Deoxygenation of Model and Realistic Feeds to Fuel-like Hydrocarbons over Supported Nickel-Copper Catalysts
The goal was to make a renewable fuel by using catalysts to remove oxygen molecules from fats. This is a current issue that society faces today because nonrenewable fossil fuels hurt the environment more than they help it. There are two components that make up a heterogeneous catalyst, a support and a reduced metal active phase. The active metal phases Nickel, Palladium, Platinum have been studied in the past on an alumina and carbon supports. We were investigating other supports using Nickel as the active phase component to determine the effect the support has on the catalyst removing oxygen of Tristearin (model lipid compound) in a semi-batch reactor at 260 degrees Celsius at a 3 hours reaction time. We believe that the 20% Nickel supported by Zirconia gave us the best results under these conditions. We want these catalyst supports to produce long hydrocarbons that can be converted into renewable fuels such as diesel. The 20% Ni/ZrO2 had the highest diesel like hydrocarbon selectivity at 96%. The conversion rate of the catalyst support was 45 % which is rather successful compared to the other tested supports.