Conversion of crude palm oil to biofuels via catalytic hydrocracking over NiN-supported natural bentonite

Nickel nitride supported on natural bentonite was prepared and tested for hydrocracking Crude Palm Oil (CPO). The catalyst was prepared using the wet impregnation method and various nickel nitride loading. Subsequently, the nickel nitrate-bentonite was calcined and nitrided under H2 steam. The surface acidity of as-synthesized NiN-bentonite was evaluated using the gravimetric pyridine gas. Meanwhile, the physiochemical features of the catalyst were assessed using XRD, FT-IR and SEM-EDX. The results showed that the NiN species was finely dispersed without affecting the bentonite's structure. Furthermore, the co-existence of Ni and N species on EDX analysis suggested the NiN was successfully supported onto the bentonite, while the surface acidity features of raw bentonite were increased to 1.713 mmol pyridine/g at 8 mEq/g of nickel nitride loading. The catalytic activity towards the CPO hydrocracking demonstrated that the surface acidity features affect the CPO conversion, with the highest conversion achieved (84.21%) using NiN-bentonite 8 mEq/g loading. At all nickel nitride loading, the NiN-bentonite could generate up to 81.98–83.47% of bio-kerosene fraction, followed by the bio-gasoline ranging from 13.12–13.9%, and fuel oil ranging from 2.89–4.57%.