Tirto Prakoso

An innovative method to produce drop-in fuel by alkaline earth-transition metals basic soap decarboxylation

Decarboxylation of metal soap is an emerging method to produce drop-in fuels as an alternative to the expensive hydrotreatment process. In this study, the Mg-Fe basic soap produced from palm kernel fatty acid had been successfully decarboxylated into jet-fuel type biohydrocarbons. The Mg-Fe basic soap with ratio of 8:2 mol was decarboxylated for 5 hours at atmospheric pressure and temperature varied up to 370°C; it produced a liquid product whose yield was around 60 %-weight. The resulting hydrocarbon product was a complex mixture consisted of normal paraffins in the range of carbon chain length C 8 – C 17 , iso-and cyclo-paraffins, and various olefin products.

Correction: Catalytic conversion of biomass derivatives to lactic acid with increased selectivity in an aqueous tin(II) chloride/choline chloride system

Catalytic conversion of biomass-derived carbohydrates to lactic acid (LacA) over Sn-based catalysts always shows a low selectivity (<30%) in an aqueous system, especially when SnCl2 is used as the catalyst. In this study, the catalytic activity as well as the selectivity of SnCl2 for the conversion of trioses, monosaccharides and disaccharides into LacA in the aqueous phase reaction system was found to be increased by the addition of choline chloride (ChCl). As the concentration of ChCl was 40–50%, the reaction selectivities towards LacA reached 40–77% under moderate reaction conditions (155–190 °C for 0.5–1.5 h). It is attributed to the formation of the SnCl2/ChCl complex in the H2O–ChCl system, which was indicated by (1) the pH of the solution changing to the acidic state (i.e. ∼3), (2) the SnCl2 completely dissolving in the ChCl aqueous solution, and (3) the single chemical shift in 119Sn NMR spectra. Such a SnCl2/ChCl complex served as a bifunctional acid catalyst to promote the hexose reaction pathway via [3 + 3] retro-aldol reaction into LacA. In contrast, LacA selectivity was only ∼7% in neat water under the same operational conditions since SnCl2 can be easily hydrolyzed into Sn(OH)Cl and HCl, resulting in the dehydration of hexoses into levulinic acid due to the strong Bronsted acidity of HCl. A kinetic study revealed that LacA yield was greatly affected by the reaction temperature and reached the maximum at 160–190 °C after 15–30 min. This study provides a new insight for the possible application of this H2O–ChCl system in other Lewis acid catalysis reactions by using SnCl2 as the catalyst.

Oxidation stability of biodiesel fuel produced from Jatropha Curcas L using Rancimat and PetroOXY method

ABSTRACT In the present work, the oxidation stabilities of oil biodiesel fuel from Jatropha curcas L were investigated by using both Rancimat and PetroOXY test method. Three types of conventional antioxidants, i.e. butylated hydroxytoluene, 6,6-di-tert-butyl-2,2-methylenedi-p-cresol, and commercialized amine, were employed and the oxidation stability effects of those additives were examined. Oxidation stability was influenced differently depending on the type of antioxidants and their concentrations. The obtained experimental data from Rancimat and PetroOXY test methods resulting in a linear correlation at various mixtures shows the potential use of PetroOXY test method for future analytical oxidation stability test. In this research, the changes in the chemical properties of fuel sample, such as: peroxide value, acid value, composition, and kinematic viscosity, obtained from the experimental work were thoroughly discussed.

An innovative technique to suppress alkene-bond in green diesel by Mg–Fe basic soap thermal decarboxylation

ABSTRACT The catalytic effect of magnesium and magnesium–zinc or copper(II), iron(III), aluminium(III), chromium(III) metal combination on ratio of the alkane to 1-alkenes and carbon number distribution in the green diesel product from metal basic soaps’ decarboxylation has been studied. Palm stearin was chosen as a model compound to produce metal basic soaps. Batch decarboxylation of metal basic soap was conducted at 350°C and atmospheric pressure for 3 h. Ratio of alkane to 1-alkene at the green diesel product was found following this order: Mg–Fe (14.6%) > Mg–Al (11.8%) > Mg–Cu (10.1%) > Mg–Zn (4.7%) > Mg–Cr (3.1%) > Mg (2.9%). Mg–Fe metal combination was preferable because it has high selectivity to alkane and capable of suppressing the 1-alkane formation during the metal basic soap decarboxylation process.