Catalytic and Thermal Decarboxylation of Mg-Zn Basic Soap to Produce Drop-in Fuel in Diesel Boiling Ranges

Fatty acid deoxygenation is a method for producing renewable hydrocarbon fuels such as green diesel, jet biofuel and biogasoline. In the present commercial method, deoxygenation is directly applied to vegetable oils through liquid phase hydrotreatment. This method is expensive because it consumes a large amount of hydrogen and requires severe operating conditions. The objective of this study was the production of a diesel-like hydrocarbon fuel that can be considered as drop-in replacement for petroleum-based diesel fuels, by catalytic thermal decarboxylation of Mg-Zn basic soap. In particular, this study investigated the decarboxylation of Mg-Zn basic soap at low temperature and pressure, without external supply of hydrogen. The Mg-Zn basic soap (9/1 mole ratio of Mg/Zn) was derived from palm stearin and decarboxylated at 350 °C and atmospheric pressure for 5 hours. The basic soap effectively decarboxylated, yielding a diesel-like hydrocarbon fuel with a liquid product yield of 62%-weight. The resulting hydrocarbon product is a complex mixture consisting of normal paraffins in the range of carbon chain length C8–C19, iso-paraffins and various olefin products

Synthesis of Biokerosene Through Electrochemical Hydrogenation of Terpene Hydrocarbons From Turpentine Oil

Indonesia possesses great potential for developing renewable resources as alternative fuels. For example, turpentine oil obtained from Pinus merkusii, which contains mostly monoterpene hydrocarbons (C10H16). The oil is highly suitable to be processed for biokerosene or even jet biofuel. It consists of hydrocarbons within the range of C10 to C15. However, it contains insufficient H and thus needs to be upgraded. In the present work, electrochemical hydrogenation was used for upgrading. In the electrochemical cell, stainless steel, silver, and carbon were used alternately for the anode, while copper and silver Raschig rings were used for the cathode. An electrolyte solution of cuprous ammonium formate was utilized not only as a source of H but also to draw the unsaturated hydrocarbons into the aqueous phase. The electrolyte : oil ratio (up to 2:1), electrolyte concentration (between 0.4 and 2 M) and reaction time were varied throughout the experiments. The bromine number (unsaturation level) of the turpentine oil, which was initially 1,86 (mole Br2/mole), was lowered significantly to 0.69-0.90. Promising increase of smoke point values were observed from 11 mm to 16-24 mm, indicating a higher H content of the processed oil, thus making it suitable as a substitute for petroleum kerosene

Dinamika dan Karakter Produk Hasil Dekarboksilasi Sabun Hidroksi Pelargonat

Pengembangan bahan bakar nabati akan memberi berbagai manfaat bagi pembangunan nasional, antara lain pengurangan impor bahan bakar minyak dan peningkatan ketahanan energi nasional. Oleh karena itu, teknologi untuk pembuatan bahan bakar nabati pensubstitusi bahan bakar minyak, terutama bensin, merupakan kebutuhan yang mendesak. Salah satu teknologi untuk menghasilkan bahan bakar nabati pensubstitusi bensin adalah dekarboksilasi sabun hidroksi pelargonat. Magnesium hidroksi pelargonat [Mg(OH)(OOCC8H17)] dapat didekarboksilasi menghasilkan n-oktana [C8H18] dan magnesium karbonat [MgCO3] yang pada temperatur mendekati 500oC akan terurai menjadi MgO dan CO2. Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mendapatkan pemahaman tentang dinamika dan karakter produk cair hasil reaksi dekarboksilasi sabun hidroksi pelargonat [Mg(OH)OOCC8H17] pada rentang suhu 250-350oC.The development of biofuel have a lot of advantages for national growth, such as, imports reduction of fuel and increasing national energy security and sustainability. Therefore, biofuel production technology for substitution of fuel oil especially gasoline, is very important. One of technology method to produce biogasoline is decarboxylation of pelargonic hydroxy metal soap. Magnesium hydroxy pelargonate [Mg(OH)(OOCC8H17)] can be decarboxylated to produce n-octane [C8H18] and magnesium carbonate [MgCO3] which at temperatures close to 500oC decompose into MgO and CO2. The objectives of this research is to investigate comprehensively the dynamics and character liquid products from decarboxylation of pelargonic hydroxy soap [Mg(OH)OOCC8H17] reaction at temperature range of 250-350oC