Jatropha-oil conversion to liquid hydrocarbon fuels using mesoporous titanosilicate supported sulfide catalysts

Titanosilicates with 3D-wormhole-like mesoporosity were used as support for hydroprocessing catalysts to increase the triglyceride (jatropha oil) deoxygenation and cracking activity of sulfided Ni-Mo and Co-Mo catalysts. Mesoporous titanosilicate supported Co-Mo catalyst showed improved performance in terms of higher yield of kerosene (jet-fuel) range hydrocarbons, 5-times more isomerized product and slightly improved activity than the traditional alumina supported catalyst. Higher acidity, better metal dispersion and favorable metal–support interactions could be attributed to the improved performance of the former. Among the mesoporous titanosilicate supported catalysts, sulfided Ni-Mo was more active than the Co-Mo catalyst (at lower temperature, 300 °C, 4–8 h−1) but with high selectivity for oligomeric products. But at higher temperatures the Co-Mo catalytic system showed comparable activities with increased yield of cracked products and the heavy range fraction. Response surface plots indicated that there was a combined effect of space velocity and temperature on the conversion at lower temperatures (300 °C), which was less prominent at higher temperatures (>330 °C). Kinetic model fitting results at lower temperatures (300–320 °C) indicated direct conversion of triglycerides to deoxygenated products along with oligomeric and cracked products formation with no internal conversions between the products indicated.