SYNTHESIS OF HIERARCHICAL ZSM-5 ZEOLITE USING CELLULOSE NANOCRYSTALS AS GREEN MESOPOROGEN IN CRACKING PALM OIL INTO AROMATIC-RICH GASOLINE

• Main Author: Aulia, Deaul
• Format: Theses
• Language: Indonesia
• Online Access: https://digilib.itb.ac.id/gdl/view/85513
• Institution: Institut Teknologi Bandung

Catalytic cracking of palm oil into biofuels has been actively studied to minimize our dependence on non-renewable fossil-based energy. In this process, the catalyst holds a key role in determining the cracking efficiency and selectivity. Hierarchical ZSM-5 has shown promising performances in converting palm oil into aromaticrich gasoline. This study synthesized hierarchical ZSM-5 using cellulose nanocrystal (CNC) as a green mesoporogen template at low-temperature conditions. CNC provides mesopores material with uniform size, high availability, and economical production costs. The addition of CNC in the synthesis process resulted in higher SBET (341-377 m2/g) compared to ZSM-5 synthesized without CNC (237 m2/g). Further, we found that the amount of CNC (0, 1, 2, 4 g) significantly influenced the structural properties and catalytic performance of the prepared hierarchical ZSM-5 . The TEM analyses show that as the amount of CNC increases, the more mesopore was created. Overall, the distribution mesopore size of the hierarchical ZSM-5 was in the range of 3-4 nm. Finally, the catalytic test on palm oil revealed better catalytic activity for the prepared hierarchical ZSM-5 than the conventional one by increasing the gasoline yield from 28 to 33% and the distribution of aromatics in gasoline from 87 to 92%. The potential of CNC as a green mesoporogen to enhance the performance of ZSM-5 catalysts offers exciting prospects for sustainable biofuel production.