Enhanced production of liquid fuel via catalytic cracking of used sunflower oil catalyzed by Praseodymium supported alumina

The production of alternative fuel from the cracking process (CP) of waste cooking oil (WCO) is consid
ered an efficient way to displace the used fossil fuel. The catalytic cracking process was evaluated using
praseodymium oxide-supported alumina. The prepared catalysts were characterized by advanced tech
niques such as XRD, BET, IR, TGA, SEM, and TEM. Different parameters such as praseodymium loading,
effect of temperature and effect of catalyst concentration were studied and investigated. The data
revealed that the maximum conversion was found to be 92 % at Pr weight loading of 10 %, temperature
of 350 C, and catalyst weight as a percent of WCO weight is 0.6 %. The routine analysis established that
the specifications of the resulting fuel indicate that it conforms to international specifications of fossil
fuel. The gas chromatography proved that the percent of hydrocarbons from C5-C16 represents 41.5 %
of the liquid biofuel.