This work provides valuable information about unexplored catalytic systems tested in the transesterification reaction of vegetable oil with methanol. It was demonstrated that natural zeolite treatment leads to enhanced catalytic activity and yield of biodiesel production. The activation of the catalytic material in a mixture of 5% H₂–95% Ar resulted in an improvement of the values of the TG conversion and fatty acid methyl esters (FAME) yield. In addition, it was proven that the incorporation of CaO, MgO and SrO oxides onto the natural zeolite surface improves the TG conversion and FAME yield values in the transesterification reaction.

Alkaline earth metal oxide (MgO, CaO, SrO) catalysts supported on BEA zeolite were prepared by a wet impregnation method and tested in the transesterification reaction of rapeseed oil with methanol towards the formation of biodiesel (FAMEs—fatty acid methyl esters). To assess the influence of the SiO₂/Al₂O₃ ratio on the catalytic activity in the tested reaction, a BEA zeolite carrier material with different Si/Al ratios was used. The prepared catalysts were tested in the transesterification reaction at temperatures of 180 °C and 220 °C using a molar ratio of methanol/oil reagents of 9:1. The transesterification process was carried out for 2 h with the catalyst mass of 0.5 g. The oil conversion value and efficiency towards FAME formation were determined using the HPLC technique. The physicochemical properties of the catalysts were determined using the following research techniques: CO₂-TPD, XRD, BET, FTIR, and SEM-EDS. The results of the catalytic activity showed that higher activity in the tested process was confirmed for the catalysts supported on the BEA zeolite characterized by the highest silica/alumina ratio for the reaction carried out at a temperature of 220 °C. The most active zeolite catalyst was the 10% CaO/BEA system (Si/Al = 300), which showed the highest triglyceride (TG) conversion of 90.5% and the second highest FAME yield of 94.6% in the transesterification reaction carried out at 220 °C. The high activity of this system is associated with its alkalinity, high value of the specific surface area, the size of the active phase crystallites, and its characteristic sorption properties in relation to methanol.

Biodiesel production from rapeseed oil and methanol via transesterification reaction facilitated by various monometallic catalyst supported on natural zeolite (NZ) was investigated. The physicochemical characteristics of the synthesized catalysts were studied by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Brunauer–Emmett–Teller method (BET), temperature-programmed-reduction in hydrogen (H₂-TPR), temperature-programmed-desorption of ammonia (NH₃-TPD), Scanning Electron Microscope equipped with EDX detector (SEM-EDS), and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) methods. The highest activity and methyl ester yields were obtained for the Pt/NZ catalyst. This catalyst showed the highest triglycerides conversion of 98.9% and fatty acids methyl esters yields of 94.6%. The activity results also confirmed the high activity of the carrier material (NZ) itself in the investigated reaction. Support material exhibited 90.5% of TG conversion and the Fatty Acid Methyl Esters yield (FAME) of 67.2%. Introduction of noble metals improves the TG conversion and FAME yield values. Increasing of the metal loading from 0.5 to 2 wt.% improves the reactivity properties of the investigated catalysts.

This work presents the comparative physicochemical and catalytic studies of metal oxide MgO catalysts in a transesterification reaction. The influence of the Si/Al ratio in the catalytic material on their catalytic properties in the studied process was extensively evaluated. In addition, the effect of the type of zeolite ZSM-5 form on the catalytic reactivity of MgO based catalysts was investigated. In order to achieve the main goals of this work, a series of MgO/ZSM-5 catalysts were prepared via the impregnation method. Their physicochemical properties were studied using X-ray diffraction (XRD), BET, FTIR and TPD-CO₂ methods. The highest activity in the studied process exhibited MgO catalyst supported on ZSM-5 characterized by the highest ratio between silica and alumina. The most active catalyst system in the transesterification reaction was 10% MgO/ZSM-5 (Si/Al = 280), which showed the highest value of higher fatty acid methyl esters (94.6%) and high yield of triglyceride conversion (92.9%). The high activity of this system is explained by the alkalinity, sorption properties in relation to methanol and its high specific surface area compared to the rest of the investigated MgO based catalysts.

The aim of this work was to investigate the hydrocracking of algae oil derived from Spirulina Platensis species catalyzed with bi-component nickel-zirconia catalysts supported onto different carriers (BEA, ZSM-5 and Al₂O₃) in an autoclave at 320 °C for 2 h with a hydrogen pressure of 75 bar. All catalysts were prepared using the wet co-impregnation method and were characterized by H₂-TPR, XRD, NH₃-TPD, BET and SEM-EDS. Before reactions, catalysts were calcined at 600 °C for 4 h in a muffle furnace, then reduced with 5%H₂-95%Ar reducing mixture at 500 °C, 600 °C or 700 °C for 2 h. The obtained products were analyzed and identified by HPLC and GC-MS techniques. In addition to the investigation of the support effect, the influence of the reduction temperature of catalytic systems on the catalytic activity and selectivity of the products was also examined. The activity results show that Ni-Zr systems supported on zeolites exhibited high conversion of algal oil. A gradual decrease in conversion was observed when increasing the reduction temperature of the catalyst (from 500 °C to 600 °C and 700 °C) for BEA zeolite catalysts. The reaction products contain hydrocarbons from C₇ to C₃₃ (for zeolite-supported catalysts) and C₃₆ (for systems on Al₂O₃). The identified hydrocarbons mainly belong to the gasoil fraction (C₁₄–C₂₂). In the research, the best catalyst for the algal oil hydrocracking reaction was found to be the 5%Ni-5%Zr/BEA system reduced at 600 °C, which exhibited the second highest algal oil conversion (94.0%). The differences in catalytic activity that occur are due to the differences in the specific surface area among the supports and to differences in the acidity of the catalyst surface depending on the reduction temperature.

This work focuses on the study of biodiesel production from commercial rapeseed oil and methanol via transesterification reactions on monometallic copper and bimetallic copper–noble metal (platinum, ruthenium) catalysts supported on BEA zeolite. The catalysts were prepared by wet impregnation method on the hydrogen form of BEA zeolite. As part of the study, the physicochemical and catalytic properties of the prepared catalytic materials were determined. The catalytic activity tests were carried out in the transesterification reaction over prepared catalysts at 220 °C for 2 h in an autoclave. The physicochemical properties of the obtained catalysts were investigated by X-ray diffraction (XRD), specific surface area and porosity (BET), a scanning electron microscope equipped with an energy dispersive spectrometer (SEM–EDS) and temperature-programmed desorption of ammonia (TPD-NH₃) method. The results of the catalytic activity showed the promotional effect of the noble metal on the TG conversion and FAME efficiency of copper catalysts in the biodiesel production process. The most active catalyst turned out to be the calcined 5%Cu–1%Ru/BEA catalyst, which showed the highest TG conversion of 85.7% and the second highest FAME efficiency of 58.4%. The high activity of this system is explained by its surface acidity and large specific surface area.