Preparation of the NiCl2 intercalated on the bentonite as a catalyst in the cracking process of biodiesel

Abstract

Biogasoline is a benign energy product that can be produced through the process of breaking down biodiesel. The purpose of this study is to produce biogasoline from cooking oil waste through the cracking process using NiCl2 intercalated as a catalyst. Initially, waste from cooking oil was converted into biodiesel through a process of esterification and transesterification. After biodiesel with carbon chain lengths of 16-20 was acquired, the cracking process to produce biogasoline that had carbon chain lengths of 4-12 with the aid of a catalyst was conducted. The bentonite intercalated NiCl2 catalyst was calcined at a temperature of 600oC for 2 hours, then characterized by XRD and SEM. The results of the diffractogram with XRD showed a peak around 2?: 44.67o which was the peak of the Ni crystalline. The cracking process of biodiesel was carried out at a temperature of 450°C and 500°C then characterized using GC-MS. The chromatograms generated at a temperature of 450oC showed the presence of three compounds belonging to the faction of biogasoline they were methyl 6-hydroxycaproate (C7H14O3), 4-hydroxymethyl-1,3-dioxolane (C4H8O3), and methyl nonylate (C10H20O2).