Fabrizio Puleo

Hydrogen production on Ni loaded apatite synthesized by dissolution-precipitation of Moroccan natural phosphate

A powder oxide with composition analogous to the apatite phosphate, was synthesized by dissolution and precipitation of Moroccan natural phosphate, then used as carrier for deposition of different amount of nickel. The support and the resulting catalysts were characterized by several techniques. XRD characterization showed that the support has the crystalline structure typical of apatite oxides. According with the chemical analysis, the composition is closed to the fluoroapatite where fluoride is partially substituted by hydroxide. After impregnation of Ni a portion of Ni2+ ions was exchanged with Ca2+ ions, as confirmed by UV-visible-NIR analysis. The so prepared catalysts were tested in the dry of methane without performing any reduction pre-treatment except the exposure to the reaction mixture. High catalytic activity at 700 °C and good stability in the production of hydrogen were found for such Ni loaded catalysts suggesting a good resistance to coke poisoning according to the basic nature of the support.

Experimental optimization of biodiesel production from Moroccan used frying oil

Biodiesel was synthesized by transesterification of waste frying oil. The 1H-NMR, Gas chromatography, and FT-IR analyses of the final product confirmed that in the chosen experimental conditions, the transesterification reaction was complete and the biodiesel does not contain any traces of glycerol. The transesterification of the low cost raw materials (waste frying oil and crude purified methanol) was performed using 1.2 % of KOH, a methanol/oil molar ratio of 6:1 and a reaction temperature of 60°C. A yield of 80.8% was achieved and properties of the produced biodiesel are as good as those of the biodiesel obeying the European standards.