Note: Basic and acid strength tests were performed using TPD-CO2 and TPD-NH3, respectively.
3.2. Metal Oxides
4. Recyclability and Stability of Supported Catalysts
4.1. Recyclability
To produce renewable diesel on a commercial scale, the performance of catalysts involved in the reaction is of utmost important. The determination in the recyclability of supported catalysts is often conducted by researchers from the view of economics and sustainability as more cost can be saved and the process is greener if the efficiency of catalysts remains after multiple runs of production. The catalysts utilized for renewable diesel production without support are difficult to recycle, especially for those that are nanosized. Therefore, supported catalysts are more advantageous than unsupported catalysts for their stability and ease of recovery. As the catalysts take up a considerable amount of operating cost, the loss of catalyst has to be minimized and it is favourable to have long lifetime catalysts to reuse and recycle for several runs.
Metal oxides are well known as catalyst supports for industrial catalysts, for example, alumina, zirconia and silica
To examine the recyclability of used catalysts, the catalysts can be recovered through filtration and being washed with solvent to remove the traces of contaminants on the catalyst surface or recalcination or re-reduction method as the treatment method. The study by Malins reported the catalyst activity of recovered spent catalyst was gradually decreased after each run, and the treatment by washing spent catalyst with acetone and drying led to lower product yield compared to the spent catalyst treated with recalcination and re-reduction. Through the later method, a total amount of 53.6 wt% hydrocarbon content was obtained in the fifth run of the experiment using the spent NiMo/SiO2-Al2O3 catalyst as recalcination eliminates the organic contaminants (carbon deposits). However, the ratio of n-C18/n-C17 content was altered after each treatment and experiment cycle due to the change in catalyst structure [3351]. They often consist of a metal cation and oxide anion, which form bases through reaction with water and form salts through reaction with acids. The nature of metal oxides varied with the oxidation states, where the metal oxides are more stable and more acidic with higher oxidation states as compared to lower oxidation states. The properties of metal oxides such as stability, strength and chemical nature are influenced by the type of metal/element as shown in the periodic table, with increasing basic nature and solubility of metal oxides observed down the column
. For the derivation of renewable diesel from waste cooking oil, the catalyst, CaO-La2O3/nanorode AC also exhibited excellent reusability as it was able to yield >63% for 5 cycles of studies with high selectivity of n-C15 by washing the spent catalyst with hexane multiple time prior reusing it [3452]. The metallic elements also dominate their wide range of attractive physicochemical properties, from the aspects of morphological, electronic, textural, structural, and redox
. The reusability of NiO-Fe2O3 with MWCNT as support has a higher yield (70–89%), even used for six consecutive runs, and only showed noticeably decreased deoxygenation activity after the fifth run of the experiment [3553].
The catalyst support, alumina (Al2O3) also known as the aluminium oxides, is often found compatible with a mixture of catalysts (containing two or more than two types of catalysts). It was reported that the catalyst, 4Pt-8MOx (where M includes Sn, W, Mo and Re) has exhibited improved catalytic activity on hydrodeoxygenation compared to “neat” Pt supported on alumina
. However, in the study by Khalit et al., the selectivity of n-(C15+C17) was significantly reduced without remarkable influence on the hydrocarbon yield after reusing the catalyst for four consecutive runs of the experiment [361]. These metal oxides impregnated with Pt have affected the electronic and textural properties of Pt, resulting in hydrodeoxygenation reaction rather than decarboxylation or decarbonylation reaction during deoxygenation. The metal oxides such as MoOx and ReOx have higher weak (100-200 oC) and moderate (200-350 oC) acid sites than “neat” Pt; while the SnOx and WOx have less weak acid sites and higher strong (>350 oC) acid sites than the “neat” Pt. The good compatibility of NiMo with Al
.
The recyclability of the spent catalyst may perform well from the aspect of products yield or selectivity, but the coking activity of the catalyst is subjected to different operating conditions. Coke deposition on the catalyst is studied as it is believed the occurrence leads to catalyst deactivation through the coke deposition on the active sites of the catalyst. The application of LaO3 was proved in another study as high product yield (80 wt%), with relatively stable activity if NiMo is sulphided even after 5 cycles of re-use [37]. Parameters such as reaction pressure and time possess a positive effect on the yield of the product while the negative effect was observed in temperature.
Silicon oxide known as silica (SiO as catalyst supported by HZSM5 has the issue of coking activity as the catalyst active sites were reduced in each run, leading to catalyst deactivation. The coking activity was analyzed through TGA analysis, where soft and hard coke (12 wt% and 7 wt%, respectively) was detected in the La2), is utilized as catalyst support due to the uniform distribution of pores and pore sizes, their good chemical and thermal stability
O3/HZSM5 [3954]. These features are important as catalyst support is utilised aiming to improve the catalytic activity of reactions . A total coke formation of 16% using Ni/AC was reported and the addition of other catalysts into Ni/AC was suggested to reduce the coke activity of catalysts [401]. It was reported that the high activity of Ir-ReOx/SiO . However, the application of a bimetallic catalyst, CaO-La2 was elucidated by the synergy effect between partially reduced ReOx sites and Ir, to achieve such yield using a Re/Ir molar ratio of 3
O3, with similar support (AC) resulted in negligible coke formation due to the anti-coking properties of the catalyst [4152]. The comparable catalytic activity was also observed for such combination after regenerated with calcination. Besides common metal catalyst, SiO . In other words, the occurrence of coke deposition is related to the combination of the type of catalyst and catalyst support used for renewable diesel production.
4.2. Stability
The lifespan of supported catalysts not only depends on their reusability; their stability is one of the important characteristics. The interaction between the catalyst and the support defines the stability of supported catalysts, as higher stability of supported catalysts is achieved with stronger interaction. The catalytic stability of supported catalysts can be determined with longer reaction time under optimum processing conditions of other parameters (e.g., pressure or H2 as support is suitable to be utilised with coal fly ash as a heterogeneous catalyst in renewable diesel production. As compared to pure coal fly ash, the reinforcement of SiO
/feed ratio etc.), or multiple runs (related to recyclability); while the stability of supported catalysts can be analyzed using characterization tests such as transmission electron microscopy (TEM), high resolution-transmission electron microscopy (HR-TEM), Raman analysis, x-ray diffraction (XRD), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), and more. It was reported that the catalytic stability of Ni with a different type of support, such as ZrO2 as its support has enhanced the pore and micropore volume as well as BET surface area of coal fly ash [42]. As for the surface structure, the catalyst with SiO , Al2 reinforced was found to be having hexagonal-shaped particles, regular surface structure, as well as more pores, compared to the catalyst without SiO
O3, and SiO2, representing the high amount of SiO
, has been studied for an on-stream experiment lasting up to 20 h at the optimum conditions. The observed outcome from the mentioned supported catalysts was a significant reduction of conversion (32–45%) in the first few hours (6–8 h), with less decrement observed in Ni/ZrO2 that benefits the catalysis efficiency. The combination showed good thermal stability as no further weight loss was observed at 700 oC and the thermal degradation was reported to be minimal due to the low composition of calcite (an unstable compound). Other types of metal oxides such as TiO2, ZnO, or CaO are potential to be utilized as they are widely used as part of the catalyst in other applications even biodiesel production. However, these metal oxides are often utilised with other types of components and act as catalyst support in a combination of two or more components.
3.3. Zeolites
Zeolite has been outstanding support as it possessed high porosity, surface area, adsorption capacity as well as ease of reactant and product separation
compared to others [4355]. As compared to activated carbon, zeolite deposits are not a renewable source as they are a type of mineral which exists naturally. However, they can be produced synthetically for various applications, especially in environmental improvement and renewable energy. The common types of zeolites utilised as the catalysts support are ZSM-5, HZSM-5, SAPO-11, MOR (mordenite), Y- and β-zeolites. Each type of zeolite consists of a distinct structure and function when incorporate with catalysts.
3.3.1 Natural Zeolites
Natural zeolites are minerals formed as the low-temperature products of feldspathic rocks and volcanic, with silicon, aluminium, and oxygen in their framework
. Another reported incredible performance of Ni-WC/AC was that the change of catalytic activity and carbon activity was insignificant during the 24 h continuous hydrodeoxygenation, implying its potential to substitute noble catalysts like Pt/AC and Pd/AC with comparable catalytic activity [4456]. These porous aluminosilicate minerals have a variety of compositions and the catalytic properties are affected by the cations which replaced part of the silicon atoms. Hence, different types of zeolites are categorized depending on crystal structure, morphological characteristics, chemical composition and pore diameter etc. The application of natural zeolites as catalyst support is cheaper than synthetic zeolites as natural zeolites can be mined and processed from natural ore bodies while synthesis of synthetic zeolites requires energy, equipment and clean substrates, probably leading to a higher price of end product.
The up-gradation of biodiesel to renewable diesel can be performed using zeolites supported catalysts. The study of Fani et al. concluded that Ni catalysts supported on activated natural MOR led to the production of 25 wt% renewable diesel using the highest loading of Ni as catalyst
. Other than Ni with different supports, the stability of Pt/SAPO11R was reported after 4 re-uses in hydro-isomerization of deoxygenated palm oil [4557]. The highest loading of Ni leads to the balanced amount of weak and strong acid sites along with the highest Ni surface area, to produce the highest efficiency for renewable diesel production. Another study reported on the application of Fe/natural zeolite (NZ) showed enhancement in catalytic properties and selectivity towards hydrocarbons with straight-chain alkanes (C15-C18), and the presence of Fe did not change the morphology and crystal structure of zeolites supports [46]. The Fe particles were found to be well-dispersed on the natural zeolite support although the Fe/NZ tends to be agglomerated. It was observed that the impregnation of Fe on NZ led to reduced BET surface area and pore volumes due to the micropore blocking, which was in agreement with the study of Rostamizadeh et al. (2016) [46][47]. The mentioned study has achieved 89% conversion of palm oil into renewable diesel using Fe/natural zeolites as compared to pure natural zeolites as catalysts (58%), showing the maleficent results of natural zeolites as catalyst support.
.
3.3.2. Synthetic Zeolites
Synthetic zeolites with optimized structure and surface characteristics can be produced via a thermal process by controlling the composition of materials and process temperature during synthesis. The synthesis of synthetic zeolites can be completed using natural raw materials via microwave-assisted synthesis, dialysis, fusion method, ultrasonic method, molten salt method, alkali activation and hydrothermal synthesis
In addition, the study by Papageridis et al. reported characterization tests and carbon analysis for spent catalysts, Ni/Al and Ni/LaAl, where the spent Ni/LaAl had better stability characteristics than the other ones due to less sintering as compared to Ni/Al. One of the positive results was that the coke formation on the catalyst surface was very thin and no clear carbon structures were viewable using TEM . However, another study conducted by Papageridis et al. further investigated the spent catalysts: Ni supported on SiO2, ZrO2 and Al2O3 using HR-TEM after the first attempt using TEM due to undetectable carbon deposits. The results of HR-TEM showed that a thin graphitic carbon shell covered the catalysts with a thickness ranging from 2.2 to 4.2 nm . From the EDX study, the differences between fresh and spent catalysts were increment of carbon, reduction of oxygen, and sulfur and nickel content for Ni/AC. The decrement of Ni was due to the coke coverage and the obtained higher carbon content was ascribed to coke formation [501]. However, the synthesis of synthetic zeolites from the chemical source of alumina and silica is expensive. Therefore, the raw material namely kaolin can be studied as a precursor of zeolite due to their silica and alumina ratio.
Short synthesizing time, the versatility of catalytic properties in synthetic zeolites and the possibility to generate desired zeolite structures are the advantages of synthetic zeolites over natural zeolites as catalyst support. Ni was found a versatile catalyst working well with synthetic zeolites as catalyst support. The compatibility of Ni with zeolites is found in agreement with the study of Li et al., where 79% to 90% of diesel range alkanes were produced using both H-ZSM-5 and H-MOR as catalyst support . Other than the analysis mentioned above, the XRD study was used to examine the quality of catalysts’ structure and chemical and thermal stability. Nur Azreena et al. reported outstanding properties of La2O3/HZSM5 as no diffraction peaks were observed due to its good chemical stability and structural qualities. This supported catalyst also exhibited excellent thermal stability because only a minor peak increase was observed after usage [5154]. For Pt/H-ZSM-5 catalyst, hydrotreating of rapeseed oil leads to the production of denoting quantities of green gasoline and renewable diesel, favouring iso-paraffins rather than n-paraffins [38]. Other types of zeolite such as zeolite beta have good catalytic performance with the catalyst, La2O . The loss of acid and base sites in the spent catalyst due to coking and metal phase transformation can be further confirmed using XRD. It was reported that the active sites of Ni0 were dominant in fresh catalysts, which would be easily transformed into inactive Ni3, producing diesel-ranged (C13-C18) products with high selectivity of 83% and excellent conversion rate up to 99% from the hydrodeoxygenation of oleic acid. It was contributed by the textural properties of a catalyst that has large pore diameter, an appropriate amount of weak and medium acid sites as well as the synergistic interaction between La-Si-Al
C after exposure to CO environment [521]. Other types of metals such as MgO, MnO, Fe2O3, ZnO, Co3O4 also favour the production of diesel-like hydrocarbon, but with a lower conversion percentage (71%-98%) and selectivity compared to La2O3. .