Biodiesel synthesis reaction routes from palm oil using plasma electro-catalysis process over Dielectric-Barrier Discharge (DBD) plasma reactor were studied. The study was focused on finding possible reaction mechanism route during plasma electro-catalysis process. The prediction was performed based on the changes of Gas Chromatography Mass Spectrometer (GC-MS) and Fourier Transform Infra Red (FT-IR) analyses to the biodiesel products with respect to time length of plasma treatment. It was found that main reaction mechanism occurred in the plasma electro-catalysis system was non-thermal pyrolysis rather than transesterification. The main reactions within the plasma treatment were due to collision between high energetic electrons (supplied from high voltage power supply through high voltage electrode) and the reaction mixtures. The high energetic electrons affected the electrons pair of covalent bonding to be excited or dissociated even ionized at higher energy. Therefore, this plasma electro-catalysis system was promising for biodiesel synthesis from vegetable oils due to only very short time reaction was needed, even no need a catalyst, no soap formation, and no glycerol by-product. This system could produce fatty acid methyl ester yield of 75.65% at 120 seconds and other possible chemicals, such as alkynes, alkanes, esters, carboxylic acid, and aldehydes. However, during the plasma process, the reaction mechanisms were still difficult to be controlled due the action of available high energetic electrons. The advanced studies on how to control the reaction mechanism selectively in the plasma electro-catalysis will be published elsewhere.

Biofuels can be produced through a conventional catalytic cracking system and/or a hybrid catalyticplasma cracking system. This paper was focused on studying effect of Na + ion exchange to HY-Zeolite catalyst on catalyst performance to convert palm oil into biofuels over a conventional continuous fixed bed catalytic cracking reactor and comparing the catalytic cracking performance when carried out in a continuous hybrid catalytic-plasma reactor. The catalysts were characterized by X-ray Diffraction (XRD) and Bruneuer-Emmet-Teller (BET) surface area methods. The biofuels product were analyzed using Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS) to determine the hydrocarbons composition of biofuels product. From the results, ion exchange process of Na + into HY-Zeolite catalyst decreases the catalyst activity due to decreasing the number of active sites caused by blocking of Na + ion. The selectivity to gasoline ranges achieved 34.25% with 99.11% total conversion when using HY catalyst over conventional continuous fixed bed reactor system. Unfortunately, the selectivity to gasoline ranges decreased to 13.96% and the total conversion decrease slightly to 98.06% when using NaY-Zeolite catalyst. As comparison when the cracking reaction was carried out in a hybrid catalytic-plasma reactor using a spent residual catalytic cracking (RCC) catalyst, the high energetics electron from plasma can improve the reactor performance, where the conversion and yield were increased and the selectivity to lower ranges of hydrocarbons was increased. However, the last results were potential to be intensively studied with respect to relation between reactor temperature and plasma-assisted catalytic reactor parameters.

Catalyst waste from the residue fluid catalytic cracking (RFCC) plant process can still be utilized to catalyze the catalytic cracking of palm oil to fuels. However, we should regenerate the active sites of the catalyst waste. This paper focuses on enhancement of Brønsted and Lewis acid sites on the spent RFCC catalyst waste through various acid treatments in order to regenerate its catalyst active sites. In order to regenerate the Brønsted and the Lewis acid sites as active sites in the palm oil catalytic cracking, the spent RFCC catalyst was treated by citric acid, sulfuric acid, and mixture of both acids. The catalysts were characterized by X-ray fluorescence, X-ray diffraction, Brunauer–Emmett–Teller-Barrett–Joyner–Halenda, and pyridine-FTIR analysis. The modified catalyst performance was tested over a fixed bed reactor for the catalytic cracking process of palm oil to liquid fuels. It was found that the acid treatment on the spent RFCC catalyst can increase surface area, pore volume, and Brønsted to Lewis acid site ratio of catalysts. The Brønsted acid sites of the spent RFCC catalyst strongly increase by the treatment using sulfuric acid, which is because of the proton transfer from acid to catalyst and because of the formation of sulfate groups (HOSO3−) in the catalysts. It was found that the Brønsted acid site leads to the formation of long-chain hydrocarbon, while the Lewis acid site pronounces the formation of short-chain hydrocarbon and coke. Moreover, the total acidity and the Lewis acid site amount on the catalyst have roles in the formation of hydrocarbon fraction in the liquid product.

Active solid acid catalysts of sulphated zinc oxide (SO 4 2--ZnO and SO 4 2-/ZnO) were prepared and characterized. The solid acid catalysts were investigated for their performance on transesterification of soybean oil with methanol to produce biodiesel. The SO 4 2--ZnO and SO 4 2-/ZnO catalysts were prepared by coprecipitation and impregnation respectively to compare their performance for biodiesel production. The catalysts were characterized by X-ray Diffraction (XRD) and Fourier Transform Infra Red (FT-IR), while the fatty acid methyl ester (FAME) component in biodiesel product was identified by Gas Chromatography -Mass Spectrometer (GC-MS) and FT-IR. The SO 4 2--ZnO catalyst, prepared by coprecipitation, showed better performance for the transesterification process than the SO 4 2-/ZnO catalyst, prepared by wet impregnation. The trend of performance of both catalyst was due to effect of sulfonate incorporation into the zinc oxide structure to form active acid sites. From the catalyst testing on transesterification of soybean oil with methanol at mild conditions (temperature of 65 o C, methanol to oil mole ratio of 6, and 4 wt% of catalyst loading), the SO 4 2--ZnO catalyst exhibited promising FAME yield of 80.19% at 4 h reaction time. Therefore, the SO 4 2--ZnO catalyst showed potential as a catalyst for transesterification of soybean oil to produce biodiesel.

Major problem in CO2 reforming of methane (CORM) process is coke formation which is a carbonaceous residue that can physically cover active sites of a catalyst surface and leads to catalyst deactivation. A key to develop a more coke-resistant catalyst lies in a better understanding of the methane reforming mechanism at a molecular level. Therefore, this paper is aimed to simulate a micro-kinetic approach in order to calculate coking rate in CORM reaction. Rates of encapsulating and filamentous carbon formation are also included. The simulation results show that the studied catalyst has a high activity, and the rate of carbon formation is relatively low. This micro-kinetic modeling approach can be used as a tool to better understand the catalyst deactivation phenomena in reaction via carbon deposition. Copyright © 2011 BCREC UNDIP. All rights reserved.

(Received: 10th May 2011; Revised: 16th August 2011; Accepted: 27th August 2011)

[How to Cite: I. Istadi, D.D. Anggoro, N.A.S. Amin, and D.H.W. Ling. (2011). Catalyst Deactivation Simulation Through Carbon Deposition in Carbon Dioxide Reforming over Ni/CaO-Al2O3 Catalyst. Bulletin of Chemical Reaction Engineering & Catalysis, 6 (2): 129-136. doi:10.9767/bcrec.6.2.1213.129-136]

[How to Link / DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.9767/bcrec.6.2.1213.129-136 ]

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ABSTRAKPenelitian EM4 and MOL for a C/N: Y= 20, Kata kunci : sampah organik rumah tangga, pengomposan, response surfase methodology, rasio C/N. ABSTRACT This research using household organic waste that is a mixture of organic waste from the kitchen and garden with the addition of an activator EM4, MOL and mixed EM4/MOL. The research design used is a combination of volume mix ratio and activator EM4/MOL and the fermentation time. The data results was plotted on a mathematical model and then optimized using the software Statistica 6.0 Response Surface Methodology methods (RSM).The results obtained by use of a mathematical model for the relationship activator combination

This paper was purposed for testing reusability and stability of calcium oxide-based catalyst (K2O/CaO-ZnO) over transesterification reaction of soybean oil with methanol to produce biodiesel. The K2O/CaO-ZnO catalyst was synthesized by co-precipitation method of calcium and zinc nitrates followed by impregnation of potassium nitrate. The fresh and used catalysts were tested after regeneration. The catalysts were characterized by Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), X-ray Diffraction (XRD), and BET Surface Area in order to compare the catalyst structure between the fresh and used catalysts. The catalyst testing in transesterification proses was carried out at following operating conditions, i.e. catalyst weight of 6 wt.%, oil to methanol mole ratio of 1:15, and temperature of 60 oC. In addition, metal oxide leaching of K2O/CaO-ZnO catalyst during reaction was also tested. From the results, the catalysts exhibited high catalytic activity (80% fatty acid methyl ester (FAME) yield after three-cycles of usage) and acceptable reusability after regeneration. The catalyst also showed acceptable stability of catalytic activity, even after three-cycles of usage.