Used cooking oil catalytic cracking using Cr-charcoal ion-exchanged catalyst

Abstract

Used cooking oil is the largest waste that can be converted into biofuel as a renewable alternative energy source with catalytic cracking process. In this study, used cooking oil was cracked using a Cr-Carbon catalyst. The charcoal was produced from solid waste (shell) of oil palm industry. Three different chromium concentrations (1, 2, and 3%) were used for the ion-exchange process of Cr-charcoal to produce the catalyst. These catalysts were used for the catalytic cracking of used cooking oil at three levels of temperature (450, 500, and 550°C). X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) analysis were used for catalyst characterization. SEM-energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX) analysis indicates that Cr was successfully adsorbed into the catalyst. The highest oil fraction was obtained from catalytic cracking of used cooking oil at 450°C using Cr-charcoal catalyst synthesized using 1% Cr solution.