Hydrodeoxygenation of refined palm kernel oil (RPKO) into bio-jet fuel using Mo/H-ZSM-5 catalysts

This research is focused to study the effect of the Mo-impregnated amount on H-ZSM-5 towards its activity and selectivity in hydrodeoxygenation (HDO) reaction for refined palm kernel oil (RPKO) into bio-jet fuel. The RPKO sample was degummed, bleached, and then analyzed using GC–MS. Impregnation of Mo metal was done using ammonium heptamolybdate ((NH₄)₆Mo₇O₂₄·4H₂O) as a precursor solution with initial Mo contents of 5, 10, and 15 wt% towards H-ZSM-5 weight to produce 5-Mo/Z, 10-Mo/Z, and 15-Mo/Zy. The catalysts were characterized using FT-IR, XRD, SEM–EDX, nitrogen desorption with Brunnauer-Emmet-Teller (BET) and Barrett-Joyner-Teller (BJH) equation, and NH₃-TPD. The catalyst activity test was applied at HDO for RPKO using a semi-flow double reactor in a one-pot system. The HDO liquid product was analyzed using GC–MS. The catalyst which produced the highest yield of liquid products was carried out for usability test in three HDO runs of RPKO. The results showed that RPKO consisted mainly of laurate (54.70 wt%) and myristate acid (16.27 wt%). The 5-Mo/Z catalyst produced the highest yield of liquid fraction (46.82 wt%) with bio-jet fuel selectivity and yield of 91.71% and 42.94 wt%. The 5-Mo/Z had the highest specific surface area, total pore volume, and total acidity of 191.44 m² g⁻¹, 0.12 cm³ g⁻¹, and 10.63 mmol g⁻¹. Usability test of the 5-Mo/Z catalyst showed promising performance after three runs in the HDO of RPKO.