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Bimetallic Lanthanum-Cerium-Loaded HZSM-5 Composite for
\nCatalytic Deoxygenation of Microalgae-Hydrolyzed Oil into
\nGreen Hydrocarbon Fuels
\nMustafa Jawad Nuhma 1,2, Hajar Alias 1,*, Muhammad Tahir 3,* and Ali A. Jazie 2
\n1 Department of Chemical Engineering, School of Chemical and Energy Engineering, Universiti Teknologi
\nMalaysia (UTM), Johor Bahru 81310, Johor, Malaysia
\n2 Chemical Engineering Department, College of Engineering, University of Al-Qadisiyah,
\nAl-Diwaniyah City P.O. Box 1767, Iraq
\n3 Chemical and Petroleum Engineering Department, United Arab Emirates University (UAEU),
\nAl Ain P.O. Box 15551, United Arab Emirates
\n* Correspondence: r-hajar@utm.my (H.A.); muhammad.tahir@uaeu.ac.ae (M.T.); Tel.: +60-190-385-5571 (H.A.);
\n+971-50-996-1678 (M.T.)<\/p>\n
Abstract: Due to their high lipid content, microalgae are one of the most significant sources of green
\nhydrocarbons, which might help lessen the world\u2019s need for fossil fuels. Many zeolite-based catalysts
\nare quickly deactivated by coke production and have a short lifetime. In this study, a bimetallic
\nLanthanum-Cerium (La-Ce)-modified HZSM-5 zeolite catalyst was synthesized through an impregnation
\nmethod and was tested for the conversion of hydrolyzed oil into oxygen-free hydrocarbon fuels
\nof high energy content. Initially, hydrolyzed oil (HO), the byproduct of the transesterification process,
\nwas obtained by the reaction of crude oil derived from Chlorella vulgaris microalgae and a methanol.
\nVarious catalysts were produced, screened, and evaluated for their ability to convert algal HO into
\nhydrocarbons and other valuable compounds in a batch reactor. The performance of HZSM-5 was
\nsystematically tested in view of La-Ce loaded on conversion, yield, and selectivity. NH3-TPD analysis
\nshowed that the total acidity of the La-Ce-modified zeolites was lower than that of the pure HZSM-5
\ncatalyst. TGA testing revealed that including the rare earth elements La and Ce in the HZSM-5
\ncatalyst lowered the catalyst propensity for producing coke deposits. The acid sites necessary for
\nalgal HO conversion were improved by putting La and Ce into HZSM-5 zeolite at various loading
\npercentages. The maximum hydrocarbon yield (42.963%), the highest HHV (34.362 MJ\/Kg), and the
\nhighest DOD% (62.191%) were all achieved by the (7.5%La-2.5%Ce)\/HZSM-5 catalyst, which was
\nsynthesized in this work. For comparison, the hydrocarbon yield for the parent HZSM-5 was 21.838%,
\nthe HHV was (33.230 MJ\/Kg), and the DOD% was 44.235%. In conclusion, La and Ce-loading on the
\nparent HZSM-5 may be responsible for the observed alterations in textural properties; nevertheless,
\nthere is no clear correlation between the physical features and the hydrocarbon yield (%). The principal
\neffect of La and Ce modifying the parent HZSM-5 zeolite was to modify the acidic sites needed to
\nenhance the conversion (%) of the algal HO during the catalytic deoxygenation process, which in
\nturn raised the hydrocarbon yield (%) and increased the HHV and DOD%.<\/p>\n
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