Catalytic Cracking of Palm Fatty Acid Distillate with NaOH and KOH Catalyst Supported by Gamma Alumina

Abstract

This article describe about the study of produce fuel from palm fatty acid distillate with a similar composition to fossil fuels through catalytic cracking method using alkaline heterogeneous catalyst. The catalytic cracking reaction was operated at batch reactor with a constant temperature of 370 o C, a volume of 50 mL of feedstock, a pressure of 1 atm, and two kinds of catalysts: NaOH/-Al2O3 and KOH/-Al2O3 which has been characterization with X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy. The best catalyst to produce biofuel type biogasoline (C5-C15) is KOH/-Al2O3 (5%) with a yield of 70% and selectivity to biogasoline of 74.46%. Meanwhile, the best catalyst to produce biofuel type biodiesel (C15-C22) is NaOH/-Al2O3 (5%) with a yield of 80% and selectivity to biodiesel of 67.72%.