Synthesis of Diesel Fuel from Waste Cooking Oil Through Catalytic Hydrotreating

Diesel fuel was synthesized from waste cooking oil using a commercial NiMo/Al₂O₃ catalyst in a batch reactor under different reaction conditions. The influence of reaction conditions, such as pressure, reaction time, and catalyst-to-oil ratio, were studied during hydrotreating through a response surface methodology and a polynomial model was obtained. The feedstock was characterized to quantify its acid number and density/viscosity. The diesel fuel obtained was characterized to obtain the pour point and density/viscosity. In addition, the yield of diesel fuel was obtained by simulated distillation. The maximum yield of diesel obtained was 91 wt% at the following reaction conditions: 72 bar, 3.6 h, and 3.5 wt%/wt% of catalyst-to-oil ratio.