Effects of Zn Addition into ZSM-5 Zeolite on Dehydrocyclization-Cracking of Soybean Oil Using Hierarchical Zeolite-Al2O3 Composite-Supported Pt/NiMo Sulfided Catalysts

Zn-exchanged ZSM-S-Al2O3 (ZA) composite-supported Pt/NiMo (NM) sulfided catalysts were prepared using the conventional kneading method and were tested for dehydrocyclization-cracking of soybean oil. The effects of Zn addition on the activity and selectivity of products were investigated under moderate-pressure conditions of 0.5 and 1.0 MPa H-2 in the temperature range of 420-580 degrees C. At the temperature 500 degrees C and higher, most of the sample soybean oil was converted at both the pressures of 0.5 and 1.0 MPa. At 1.0 MPa and 500 degrees C, the effects of Zn addition appeared and increased the yields of aromatics, while the catalyst without Zn produced larger amounts of products with more than C18. Further, at 0.5 MPa and 580 degrees C, the gas formation was inhibited in comparison to the cases of 1.0 MPa and the effects of the Zn addition also appeared and increased the yields of aromatics, while the catalyst without Zn produced larger amounts of products with more than C18. The Pt/NM/Zn(122)ZA test catalyst produced more than 63% of liquid fuels in the range CS-C18, and the yield of aromatics was 13%, the maximum value in the present study. The following reaction routes were proposed. The structure of triglyceride is converted by hydrocracking to three molecules of aliphatic acids and propane on the surface PtNiMo sulfide on Al2O3 support. The converted aliphatic acids are decomposed through decarboxylation to hydrocarbon fragments, which are further decomposed by cracking on the acid sites of the catalyst, the surface of NiMo sulfide, Al2O3, or ZSM-5. Finally, the formed C3 and C4 olefins are transformed to aromatics through the Diels-Alder reaction on the Zn species of ZnZSM-5. On the other hand, although gases were relatively small in amount, aromatic compounds were formed significantly, suggesting that cyclization might directly occur without conversion to gaseous hydrocarbons to some extent.