Green biofuel production via cracking process of waste cooking oil using spent fluid catalytic cracking (SFCC) catalyst

Abstract

Waste Cooking Oil (WCO) can be a alternative for petroleum-based fuel. In this work, green biofuel was produced via cracking process of high acid value (AV) waste cooking oils (WCOs) over spent fluid catalytic cracking (SFCC) catalyst collected from Binh Son Refireny. The influences of temperature (450 – 520°C), catalyst-to-WCO ratio (1.5 – 3.5), and acid value (6 - 22 mgKOH/g) have been examined. At 520°C, WCOs can be converted to liquid fuels with the near zero AV (AV < 0.5 mgKOH/g) which is independent of AV of WCOs. In all cases, the total yield of profitable products, gasoline-diesel-LPG, reaches 85 wt%, with only 5 - 7 wt% of coke yield. This study demonstrated the simultaneous utilization of multiple hazardous substances, SFCC catalyst and WCOs, as low-cost raw materials for biofuel production.