Catalytic pyrolysis of vegetable oil is one of the potential routes to convert oil to drop-in biofuels, known as renewable hydrocarbons. In this paper, we explored catalytic pyrolysis of coconut oil using SBA-15 impregnated with Ni in proportions of 1% to 5% to produce sustainable aviation fuel. The catalysts were synthesized, calcined and then characterized by XRD, FTIR, SEM, and EDS. In order to better understand the behavior of this process, thermal and kinetic studies were carried out by thermogravimetry. The TG curves of vegetable oil with (10%) and without catalysts were obtained at heating rates of 5, 15 and 20 °C min⁻¹, in the temperature range between 30 and 600 °C. The kinetic parameters were calculated by the Ozawa–Flynn–Wall (OFW) and Kissinger–Akahira–Sunose (KAS) methods. In the kinetic study, lower heat rates promoted higher conversions and the KAS model suits the process. The results calculated for the OC sample using the two kinetic models showed an increase in the E_a energy as the conversion progressed to a certain point. Catalytic pyrolysis experiments were performed in a one-stage tubular reactor at 500 °C with a catalyst loading of 10 wt% on the basis of mass of oil. The catalyst with 5% Ni showed greater presence of hydrocarbons and greater formation of water, indicating that the deoxygenation process occurred through decarbonylation. With this, the present study was successful in the development of methodologies for obtaining hydrocarbons with a composition close to that of drop-in fuels, compared to the process carried out with vegetable oil in the absence of catalysts.

The present work describes the study of micro (H-ZSM-5) and mesoporous (AL-MCM-41) structures, aiming at their application in the production of renewable fuels through the thermos-catalytic pyrolysis process both were synthesized hydrothermally and characterized by X-ray diffraction, thermal analysis, infrared spectroscopy, nitrogen adsorption, and surface acidity. The catalytic effect of the materials mentioned, as well as their mechanical mixtures in the proportions of H-ZSM-5 (75% wt) and AL-MCM-41 (25% wt); H-ZSM-5 (50% wt) and AL-MCM-41 (50% wt); H-ZSM-5 (25% wt) and AL-MCM-41 (75% wt) were used in the thermal and thermo-catalytic pyrolysis of sunflower oil. The products obtained in the presence of H-ZSM-5 (25% wt) and AL-MCM-41(75% wt) showed selectivity for the conversion of hydrocarbons between C11 and C16, which is near that of the petroleum-derived kerosene and diesel (>C16). On the other hand, the H-ZSM-5 (75% wt) and AL-MCM-41 (25% wt) material, in which the majoritarian catalyst is the microporous, with active sites and a higher surface acidity, indicates selectivity for light hydrocarbons (C5-C10), in the range of gasoline obtained by the conversion of mineral oil. The presence of catalysts (AL-MCM-41and H-ZSM-5) favors the deoxygenation of the pyrolysis products of sunflower oil by decarbonylation reaction.

Among the most relevant themes of modernity, using renewable resources to produce biofuels attracts several countries’ attention, constituting a vital part of the global geopolitical chessboard since humanity’s energy needs will grow faster and faster. Fortunately, advances in personal computing associated with free and open-source software production facilitate this work of prospecting and understanding complex scenarios. Thus, for the development of this work, the keywords “biofuel” and “nanocatalyst” were delivered to the Scopus database, which returned 1071 scientific articles. The titles and abstracts of these papers were saved in Research Information Systems (RIS) format and submitted to automatic analysis via the Visualization of Similarities Method implemented in VOSviewer 1.6.18 software. Then, the data extracted from the VOSviewer were processed by software written in Python, which allowed the use of the network data generated by the Visualization of Similarities Method. Thus, it was possible to establish the relationships for the pair between the nodes of all clusters classified by Link Strength Between Items or Terms (LSBI) or by year. Indeed, other associations should arouse particular interest in the readers. However, here, the option was for a numerical criterion. However, all data are freely available, and stakeholders can infer other specific connections directly. Therefore, this innovative approach allowed inferring that the most recent pairs of terms associate the need to produce biofuels from microorganisms’ oils besides cerium oxide nanoparticles to improve the performance of fuel mixtures by reducing the emission of hydrocarbons (HC) and oxides of nitrogen (NOx).