Kinetic study on catalytic cracking of rubber seed (Hevea brasiliensis) oil to liquid fuels

Abstract

Reaction kinetics of catalytic cracking of rubber seed oil to liquid fuels has been investigated. The reaction was performed with sulfuric acid as catalyst at temperatures of 350-450 °C and the ratio of oil-catalyst of 0-2 wt.% for 30-90 minutes. Kinetics was studied using the model of 6-lump parameters. The parameters were rubber seed oil, gasoline, kerosene, diesel, gas, and coke. Analysis of experimental data using regression models to obtain reaction rate constants. Activation energies and pre-exponential factors were then calculated based on the Arrhenius equation. The simulation result illustrated that the six-lump kinetic model can well predict the product yields of rubber seed oil catalytic cracking. The product has high selectivity for gasoline fraction as liquid fuel and the smallest amount of coke. The constant indicates that secondary reactions occurred in diesel products compared to gasoline and kerosene. The predicted results indicate that catalytic cracking of rubber seed oil had better be conducted at 450 °C for 90 minutes using 0.5 wt.% catalyst.