Conversion of volcano mud and marble waste to Ni/Ca/ZSM-5 catalyst for bio-jet fuel production from waste cooking oil and the effect of Ni loading

Trifunctional Ni/Ca/ZSM-5 catalysts were synthesized from volcano mud (LM) and marble waste (MW) as a route to achieve sustainable catalyst production. ZSM-5 (Z) achieved 83.13 % conversion with 98.6 % deoxygenation degree in the deoxygenation of waste cooking oil at 380 °C. The addition of MW in the initial mixture enhanced the mesoporosity and increased basicity by forming Ca/ZSM-5, improving hydrocarbon yield from 58.83 % to 72.3 %. Impregnation with 10 % Ni on Ca/ZSM-5 provides acid base functionality that further increases conversion to 96.65 % with 99 % DO degree and increased selectivity from 47.7 % for Z11 to 66.6 % towards C15-C17. This result suggests selectivity towards long-chain hydrocarbon predominantly determined by acidity through nickel while mesoporosity improved the conversion of oil to liquid yield. The Ni/Ca/ZSM-5 (Z11-Ni10) have robust performance, showing a total conversion of more than 86.14 % for up to the sixth reaction cycle. The physicochemical properties of the liquid product are within the specifications for bio-jet fuels.