Conversion of Isoprenoid Oil by Catalytic Cracking and Hydrocracking over Nanoporous Hybrid Catalysts

In order to produce petroleum alternatives from biomass, a significant amount of research has been focused on oils from microalgae due to their origin, which would not affect food availability. Nanoporous hybrid catalysts composed of ns Al₂O₃ and zeolites have been proven to be very useful compared to traditional catalysts in hydrotreating (HT), hydrocracking (HC), and catalytic cracking (CC) of large molecules. To evaluate the reaction scheme and products from model isoprenoid compounds of microalgae oil, nanoporous hybrid catalyst technologies (CC: ns Al₂O₃/H-USY and ns Al₂O₃/H-GaAlMFI; HC: [Ni-Mo/γ-Al₂O₃]/ns Al₂O₃/H-beta) were studied. The major product from CC on ns Al₂O₃/H-USY was highly aromatic gasoline, while the product from HC was half-isoparaffinic/olefinic kerosene. Although more than 50 wt% of the products from HT/CC on the USY catalyst was liquefied petroleum gas due to overcracking, the product from HT/CC on the MFI catalyst was high-octane-number gasoline. Delightfully, the product from HT/HC was kerosene and its average number was 11, with more than 80 wt% being isoparaffinic. As a result, it was demonstrated that hydrotreating may convert isoprenoid oil from microalgae over nanoporous hybrid catalysts into a variety of products.