Analysis of Reaction Conditions in Palmitic Acid Deoxygenation for Fuel Production

The development of effective catalytic systems for deoxygenation reactions is critical to the conversion of renewable feedstocks into sustainable fuels. In this work, the influence of various reaction parameters on the conversion of palmitic acid into alkanes, such as temperature, stirring rate, reaction time, H2 pressure, amount of catalyst and substrate concentration was evaluated using the commercial Co-Mo/Al2O3 catalyst. In parallel, bimetallic Co-Mo catalysts supported on carbon nanotubes (CNTs) were prepared and characterized using various techniques, and their catalytic performance was assessed under the optimized conditions. The results showed that palmitic acid can be efficiently converted at 350 °C for 6 h at 30 bar H2 pressure, stirring at 150 rpm and using 0.25 g of catalyst and 0.50 g of palmitic acid in 50 mL of n-decane. Under these conditions, a complete substrate conversion and yields of 89.4 and 4.8% of C16 and C15 were achieved. In addition, Co-Mo/CNTox presented a similar catalytic performance as the commercial one, with a final result of 90.9% yield in C16. These findings point out the potential of using Co-Mo/CNTox as a competitive alternative to liquid fuel production.