Bimetallic Lanthanum-Cerium-Loaded HZSM-5 Composite for
Catalytic Deoxygenation of Microalgae-Hydrolyzed Oil into
Green Hydrocarbon Fuels
Mustafa Jawad Nuhma 1,2, Hajar Alias 1,*, Muhammad Tahir 3,* and Ali A. Jazie 2
1 Department of Chemical Engineering, School of Chemical and Energy Engineering, Universiti Teknologi
Malaysia (UTM), Johor Bahru 81310, Johor, Malaysia
2 Chemical Engineering Department, College of Engineering, University of Al-Qadisiyah,
Al-Diwaniyah City P.O. Box 1767, Iraq
3 Chemical and Petroleum Engineering Department, United Arab Emirates University (UAEU),
Al Ain P.O. Box 15551, United Arab Emirates
* Correspondence: r-hajar@utm.my (H.A.); muhammad.tahir@uaeu.ac.ae (M.T.); Tel.: +60-190-385-5571 (H.A.);
+971-50-996-1678 (M.T.)

Abstract: Due to their high lipid content, microalgae are one of the most significant sources of green
hydrocarbons, which might help lessen the world’s need for fossil fuels. Many zeolite-based catalysts
are quickly deactivated by coke production and have a short lifetime. In this study, a bimetallic
Lanthanum-Cerium (La-Ce)-modified HZSM-5 zeolite catalyst was synthesized through an impregnation
method and was tested for the conversion of hydrolyzed oil into oxygen-free hydrocarbon fuels
of high energy content. Initially, hydrolyzed oil (HO), the byproduct of the transesterification process,
was obtained by the reaction of crude oil derived from Chlorella vulgaris microalgae and a methanol.
Various catalysts were produced, screened, and evaluated for their ability to convert algal HO into
hydrocarbons and other valuable compounds in a batch reactor. The performance of HZSM-5 was
systematically tested in view of La-Ce loaded on conversion, yield, and selectivity. NH3-TPD analysis
showed that the total acidity of the La-Ce-modified zeolites was lower than that of the pure HZSM-5
catalyst. TGA testing revealed that including the rare earth elements La and Ce in the HZSM-5
catalyst lowered the catalyst propensity for producing coke deposits. The acid sites necessary for
algal HO conversion were improved by putting La and Ce into HZSM-5 zeolite at various loading
percentages. The maximum hydrocarbon yield (42.963%), the highest HHV (34.362 MJ/Kg), and the
highest DOD% (62.191%) were all achieved by the (7.5%La-2.5%Ce)/HZSM-5 catalyst, which was
synthesized in this work. For comparison, the hydrocarbon yield for the parent HZSM-5 was 21.838%,
the HHV was (33.230 MJ/Kg), and the DOD% was 44.235%. In conclusion, La and Ce-loading on the
parent HZSM-5 may be responsible for the observed alterations in textural properties; nevertheless,
there is no clear correlation between the physical features and the hydrocarbon yield (%). The principal
effect of La and Ce modifying the parent HZSM-5 zeolite was to modify the acidic sites needed to
enhance the conversion (%) of the algal HO during the catalytic deoxygenation process, which in
turn raised the hydrocarbon yield (%) and increased the HHV and DOD%.

 

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