The utilization of non-edible and low-cost feedstock in bioenergy research is getting more attention in recent decades. Catalytic deoxygenation of fatty acids from waste oil feedstocks is a promising route to produce diesel-like hydrocarbons. Here we report the conversion of palm fatty acid distillate (PFAD), a low-value side product of physical refining of crude palm oil, into green diesel using a solventless and hydrogen-free deoxygenation (DO) reaction using catalytic deoxygenation over solid acid catalysts (Co/SBA-15, Ni/SBA-15, and Ni-Co/SBA-15) with total metal loadings of 5 wt%. Metal precursors (Ni, Co, Ni-Co) were doped on the mesostructured catalyst supporter, SBA-15 by wet impregnation. The catalysts were characterized by nitrogen adsorption-desorption isotherm analysis, X-ray diffraction, X-ray fluorescence, infrared spectroscopy, and highresolution transmission electron microscopy with elemental mapping. The DO reaction was carried out in a semi-batch reactor with a catalyst loading of 10 wt% at 350 °C for 3 h. The use of both Ni/SBA-15 and Ni-Co/SBA-15 afforded products with high contents of liquid hydrocarbons (C8-C17) with yields of 85.8% and 88.1%, respectively, and selectivity for diesel-range hydrocarbons (C13-C17) above 85% were achieved. Cobalt seems to have a larger particle size, then associates with the carbon formation and introduces coke formation. It blocks some pores and deactivates the active sites of the catalyst, thus reducing the catalytic activity.

The physicochemical properties of different grades of Malaysian crude palm oil (high free fatty acid crude palm oil (HFFA-CPO) and low free fatty acid crude palm oil (LFFA-CPO)) were analyzed in this study to determine their applicability as edible oils. The percentages of free fatty acids (FFAs%), iodine value, hydroxyl value, unsaponifiable value, moisture content for HFFA-CPO and LFFA-CPO were 8.7 ± 0.3 and 3.8 ± 0.1%; 53.1 ± 0.4 and 56 ± 0.3 g I 2 /100 g; 32.5 ± 0.6 and 18.5 ± 0.9 mg KOH/g oil; 0.31 ± 0.01 and 0.46 ± 0.02%; 0.31 ± 0.01 and 0.33 ± 0.01%, respectively. The fatty acid compositions were determined using a gas chromatography-flame ionization detector (GC-FID). The results showed that the dominant fatty acids are palmitic acid (43.2%-44.4%) and oleic acid (39.8%-41.4%). The major triacylglycerols (TAGs) of HFFA-CPO and LFFA-CPO estimated using high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), were POP (30.8%-33.6%) and POO (24.9%-29.7%). In general, the physicochemical properties of HFFA-CPO and LFFA-CPO are consistent with the standard Malaysian crude palm oil, with the exception of FFAs%, hydroxyl value, moisture contents. Keywords: physicochemical characteristic / hydroxyl value / high free fatty acid crude palm oil / triacylglycerol profile / fatty acid composition Résumé-Caractéristiques physico-chimiques de l'huile de palme brute à haute teneur en acides gras libres. Les propriétés physico-chimiques des différentes nuances de l'huile de palme brute malaisienne (huile de palme brute à haute teneur en acides gras libres (HFFA-CPO) et huile de palme brute à faible teneur en acides gras libres (LFFA-CPO)) ont été analysées dans cette étude pour déterminer leur applicabilité sous forme d'huiles comestibles. Les pourcentages d'acides gras libres (FFAs %), de valeur d'iode, de valeur d'hydroxyle, de valeur insaponifiable, de teneur en humidité pour HFFA-CPO et LFFA-CPO étaient de 8,

The epoxidation process of palm olein (POo) was carried out by usingin situgenerated performic acid (HCOOOH) to produce epoxidized palm olein (EPO). HCOOOH was produced by mixing of formic acid (HCOOH) as oxygen carrier and hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) as oxygen donor in various ratio of POo: HCOOH: H2O2. The effect of HCOOH and H2O2concentration, temperature, stirring effect and reaction time were studied. The presence of oxirane ring of EPO was characterised by fourier transformation infra-red (FTIR), proton and carbon nuclear magnetic resonance (1H-NMR and (13C-NMR) spectra. The results showed that an optimum oxirane oxygen content (OOC) value was obtained by using mol ratio of 1: 5: 2 at 150 minutes.

Hydroprocessing of fatty carboxylic acids over 5 wt% Ni/Al-SBA-15 reveals a strong dependence of product yield and selectivity on Si : Al ratio.

19A series of 5 wt% NiO/Al-SBA-15 catalysts were prepared by wet impregnation of ordered, 20 mesoporous Al-SBA-15 supports (Si/Al molar ratios spanning 5-75) synthesised by a true 21 liquid crystal templating (TLCT) method. The catalytic activity of the resulting catalysts was 22 studied in the solventless, hydrogen-free deoxygenation (DO) of palm fatty acid distillate 23 (PFAD), using a semi-batch reactor at 350 °C. 27 Al and 29 Si MAS-NMR was used to quantify 24 the speciation of framework and extra-framework Al as a function of Si:Al ratio, before and 25 after NiO functionalisation; TEM and XRD confirmed the formation of 9-10 nm NiO 26 nanoparticles in all cases. NiO/Al-SBA-15 catalysts exhibited excellent catalytic activity for 27 PFAD deoxygenation, with hydrocarbon yields reaching 86 % and a selectivity to the diesel 28 fraction (C11-C17) of 91 %. 29 30

Films of PMMA and PMMA doped with NiCl 2 with different contents were prepared using the casting technique. The optical properties of all films were investigated using spectrophotometric measurements of absorbance and transmittance in the wavelength range 200-800 nm. The change of the calculated values of the optical energy gaps with increasing NiCl 2 content has been interpreted in terms of the structural modifications of the PMMA matrix. The optical energy gap decreased from 3.6 to 3.05 eV with increasing the NiCl 2 concentration to 0.4%. The effect of doping on the optical constants of films such as refractive index, extinction coefficient, real and imaginary parts of dielectric constant, optical conductivity, and skin depth has been reported. All these constants were increased with increasing NiCl 2 concentration with the exception of skin depth which is different result.

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This work involved the utilization of a byproduct from the palm oil refining process as reaction feedstock in a solventless and hydrogen-free catalytic deoxygenation (DO) over NiO-ZnO catalyst in producing diesel-like hydrocarbons as advanced biofuels. The catalyst supporter was synthesized using coprecipitation methods to form highly crystalline mesomacrostructured ZnO particles. The catalyst support was wet-impregnated with different loadings (wt %) of NiO to prepare the NiO-ZnO catalyst. X-ray diffraction patterns verified