Transformation of Jatropha Oil into High-Quality Biofuel over Ni–W Bimetallic Catalysts

High Resolution Image Download MS PowerPoint Slide The production of fuel from the hydrodeoxygenation of vegetable oils has been extensively investigated on account of the decline of petroleum-based fuels and increase of ecological problems. The conversion of jatropha oil over Al-MCM-41-supported Ni, W, and Ni–W catalysts was studied at 3 MPa and 360 °C. Over the monometallic Ni and W catalysts, the biofuel yield was low, about 19.3 and 12.5 wt %, respectively, whereas the highest biofuel yield reached 63.5 wt % over the Ni–W bimetallic catalysts. X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and high-resolution TEM results suggested that the proper amount of Ni and W would form a Ni 17 W 3 active phase, the particle size of which varied with the content of Ni and W or preparation methods. The crystalline Ni 17 W 3 phase formed when the content of both Ni and W reached 10%. With further increase of the content of W or Ni to 15%, the crystal size of Ni 17 W 3 grew from 7 to 14 nm or to 20 nm, whereas the biofuel yield decreased with the increase of the Ni 17 W 3 crystal size. The 10Ni–10W/Al-MCM-41 catalyst with the Ni 17 W 3 crystal size of 7 nm showed the best performance for the transformation of jatropha oil into high-grade biofuel.