Hydrocracking of Jatropha oil over Ni-H3PW12O40/nano-hydroxyapatite catalyst

The Ni-H3PW12O40/nano-hydroxyapatite catalyst with H3PW12O40 (HPW) loading was prepared by impregnation method and performed through hydrocracking of Jatropha oil in a fixed-bed reactor. The catalyst was characterized by N2 adsorption–desorption, powder X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), temperature-programmed desorption of ammonia (NH3-TPD), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). The conversion of Jatropha oil over Ni-HPW (30 wt%)/nHA was 100%, the liquid yield of liquid product was 83.4%, the ratio of i/n-paraffins was 1.64 at 360 °C, 3 MPa, H2/oil (v/v) = 600 and LHSV = 2 h−1. The pour point of final product oil was −28 °C and the catalyst was used without sulfurization.