Catalytic Conversion of Palm Oil to Bio-Hydrogenated Diesel over Novel N-Doped Activated Carbon Supported Pt Nanoparticles

Bio-hydrogenated diesel (BHD), derived from vegetable oil via hydrotreating technology, is a promising alternative transportation fuel to replace nonsustainable petroleum diesel. In this work, a novel Pt-based catalyst supported on N-doped activated carbon prepared from polypyrrole as the nitrogen source (Pt/N-AC) was developed and applied in the palm oil deoxygenation process to produce BHD in a fixed bed reactor system. High conversion rates of triglycerides (conversion of TG > 90%) and high deoxygenation percentage (DeCO x % = 76% and HDO% = 7%) were obtained for the palm oil deoxygenation over Pt/N-AC catalyst at optimised reaction conditions: T = 300 °C, 30 bar of H 2 , and LHSV = 1.5 h −1 . In addition to the excellent performance, the Pt/N-AC catalyst is highly stable in the deoxygenation reaction, as confirmed by the XRD and TEM analyses of the spent sample. The incorporation of N atoms in the carbon structure alters the electronic density of the catalyst, favouring the interaction with electrophilic groups such as carbonyls, and thus boosting the DeCO x route over the HDO pathway. Overall, this work showcases a promising route to produce added value bio-fuels from bio-compounds using advanced N-doped catalysts.