Liquid Hydrocarbon Fuels from Catalytic Cracking of Waste Cooking Oils Using Basic Mesoporous Molecular Sieves K₂O/Ba-MCM-41 as Catalysts

Mesoporous molecular sieves K₂O/Ba-MCM-41, which feature base sites, were prepared under hydrothermal conditions. The structure, base properties, and catalytic activity of the mesoporous molecular sieves as heterogeneous catalysts for the cracking of waste cooking oil (WCO) were then studied in detail. K₂O/Ba-MCM-41 exhibited higher catalytic performance for the cracking of WCO than traditional base catalysts such as Na₂CO₃ and K₂CO₃. Moreover, the cracking of WCO generates fuels (main composition is C₁₂∼C₁₇ alkane or olefin) that have similar chemical compositions to diesel-based fuels, and K₂O/Ba-MCM-41 is of excellent stability. The catalyst could be recycled and reused with negligible loss in activity for four cycles. K₂O/Ba-MCM-41 is an environmentally benign heterogeneous basic catalyst for the production of liquid hydrocarbon fuels from low quality feed stocks