Enhancing aviation sustainability: bimetallic Ni–Co catalysts for bio-jet fuel from palm kernel oil

The production of bio-jet fuel from renewable sources such as palm kernel oil (PKO) biomass has been extensively been studied for the production of transportation fuel due to its availability. Hence, this study was focused on the production of bio-jet fuel (BJF; C8-C16) derived from PKO via catalytic deoxygenation (DO) reaction under H2-free environment over Nix-Cox supported on magnetite (Fe3O4) catalyst. The Ni and Co concentrations have been kept within 0.5–0.75 wt% to optimize the synergistic interaction between the metals and the support. The result indicated that Ni0.5-Co0.5/Fe3O4 catalyst exhibited high surface area (156.75 m2g−1) with weak (437.1 μmol/g) + strong (14601.0 μmol/g) acidic sites. In a preliminary PKO catalytic DO study conducted at 350℃ for 3 h using a 5 wt% catalyst loading under an inert N2 atmosphere, the results revealed that the Ni0.5-Co0.5/Fe3O4 catalyst exhibited higher DO activity, achieving approximately 91 % hydrocarbon selectivity. The majority of the product was in the BJF (C8-C16) fraction, accounting for 95 %. The data also showed that the Ni0.5-Co0.5/Fe3O4 catalyst was more selective towards BJF, with a selectivity value of 77 %, the highest observed for the C11 carbon chain. Based on the kinetic and deactivation study of the Ni0.5-Co0.5/Fe3O4 catalyst over a 500mins DO reaction, the results revealed that the primary cause of catalyst deactivation was coking activity. It also appeared that a higher DO temperature (350℃) positively affected coking activity. Interestingly, a longer reaction time at a lower DO temperature mitigated coking activity, with coke deposition reaching approximately 5 wt%. The Ni0.5-Co0.5/Fe3O4 catalyst demonstrates significant commercial viability for industrial bio-jet fuel production owing to its exceptional deoxygenation efficacy and adequate coking resistance.

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