The production of high-quality biofuel from waste oil

Molecular structural modification was a critical step for the production of high-quality biofuel. In this study, it was found that catalytic cracking followed by product isomerization is an effective technology to convert waste oil into low CFPP and high-quality biofuel. The detailed catalyst characterization was conducted by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), thermo-gravimetric analysis (TGA), NH3-temperature programmed desorption (NH3-TPD), H2-temperature programmed reduction (H2-TPR), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), pyridine-adsorbed Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (Py-FTIR) and Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy analysis. With the addition of Ce into the Ni/SAPO-11 catalyst, the occurrence of the hydro-cracking reaction was restrained efficiently, and (20 + 1)% NiCe/SAPO-11 was considered as the optimal catalyst for the hydro-isomerization study. Under the action of the bimetallic catalyst, the isomerization reaction could be carried out at low reaction temperature (340 °C) because of the high olefin content (approximately 43%) in pyrolytic oils. Comparison of physical and chemical properties for the hydro-isomerization of pyrolytic oil catalyzed over NiCe/SAPO-11 and Pt/SAPO-11 was conducted. For the two catalysts, the product fuel revealed excellent properties, which abided by the established EN and ASTM standards.