Effect of different catalysts on the cracking of Jatropha oil

Conversion of non-edible plant seed oil Jatropha oil (JO) by cracking and the utilization of cracked liquid product obtained as a transportation fuel have gained importance. Thus, an attempt has been made to study the catalytic cracking of JO in a batch reactor. The experiments were carried out under nitrogen atmosphere at a temperature of 375 °C. The catalytic cracking of JO was carried out using three catalysts ZSM-5, ZSM-5 + SiAl and NiMo/SiAl. Catalyst ZSM-5 + SiAl was the best catalyst used for JO cracking as it leads to the formation of 36% gasoline range hydrocarbons (C7–C11) and 58% diesel range hydrocarbons(C12–C22) in the cracked liquid. It was also observed that the use of catalyst had a positive effect on the pH content of the catalytically cracked liquid products.