The purposes of this study are to investigate the effect of metal (Co and Mo) impregnation to ZSM-5 catalysts on the Brønsted to Lewis (B/L) ratio as the active sites of cracking reaction, and the catalysts’ performance testing for palm oil cracking to produce hydrocarbon-rich biofuels. Both metals were impregnated on the ZSM-5 catalyst using a wet-impregnation method. The catalysts were characterized using X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray Fluorescence (XRF), Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET), and Pyridine-probed Fourier-Transform Infrared (Py-FTIR) spectroscopy methods. The catalysts were tested on the cracking process of palm oil to biofuels in a continuous fixed-bed catalytic reactor. In order to determine the composition of the organic liquid product (OLP, biofuels), the product was analyzed using a gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) method. The results showed that the co-impregnation of Co and Mo to ZSM-5 highly increased the Brønsted to Lewis acid site (B/L) ratio, although the total number of acid sites decreased. However, the impregnation of Co and Mo on the ZSM-5 decreased the surface area of catalysts due to pore blocking by metals, while the B/L ratio of the catalysts increased. It was obtained that by utilizing Co- and Mo-impregnated ZSM-5 catalysts, the hydrocarbons product selectivity increased from 84.32% to 95.26%; however, the yield of biofuels decreased from 67.57% to 41.35%. The increase in hydrocarbons product selectivity was caused by the improvement of the Brønsted to Lewis (B/L) acid sites ratio.

Synthesis of glycerol mono-laurate (GML) has been performed using esterification reaction of glycerol and lauric acid. The reaction was performed at the condition of temperature of 120–140 °C within 7 hour, variation of molar ratio of glycerol - lauric acid, and was using heterogeneous catalyst of zeolist Y. Without catalyst dealumination the maximum acid conversion was 78%, with GML contained in the sample was 38.6%, and it was obtained at the reaction condition of 140 oC, 15wt% catalyst, and 8:1 molar ratio of glycerol - lauric acid. At the same condition, using dealuminated catalyst, the maximum acid conversion was increased up to 98%, with GML contained in the sample was 50.4%. The GML antibacterial activity was examined. It was observed that the GML has antibacterial activity against gram positive bacterial such as B. cereus and S. aureus.

One of many efforts to convert coal tar into alternative liquid fuel is by hydrocracking. This research aims to determine the impregnation of Co-Mo/Y zeolite, its characteristics, the effect of impregnation temperature and time, and also the best Co-Mo/Y zeolite impregnation condition for the conversion of coal tar. This research was conducted in several steps, impregnating Co from Co(NO3)2.6H2O and Mo from (NH4)6Mo7O24.4H2O into Zeolite Y in liquid media, drying at 100 °C for 24 hours, and calcination at 550 °C for 3 hours. Coal tar was then reacted with hydrogen gas (as a reactant), and Co-Mo/Zeolite Y (as a catalyst) was conducted at 350 °C. Characteristic analysis showed that Co and Mo had impregnated into the Y zeolite, as well as it made no change of catalyst’s structure and increased the total acidity. The higher of impregnation temperature was increased the catalyst crystallinity, total acidity, and yield of gasoline. The longer impregnation time was reduced crystallinity value, but total acidity and yield were increased. GC analysis showed that products included into the gasoline product (C8, C9, and C10).

Methanol has good combustion properties, so it is projected to be a profitable alternative for future fuel. Single step oxidation of methane to methanol can be chosen as an alternative process, because this process is more economical than the conventional two-step process. Although in the thermodynamic analysis shows that partial oxidation of methane to methanol can be carried out at room temperature, but the low selectivity and side reactions are still to be challenge. To getting the methanol as a product or intermediate, it is important to determine the suitable materials that can activate methane in an efficient way at low temperatures. This is difficult because the C-H bond in CH₄ has the highest bond energy (104 kcal / mol) among other organic compounds. Some oxide and metal oxide surfaces can dissociate CH₄ at room temperature, which opens the possibility for a direct conversion methane to methanol. And the addition of water to the system causes a big change in the selectivity of methane activation yielding which only produces adsorbed CHx fragments. In this paper we will review one step catalytic oxidation process basicly, solid heterogeneous catalytic oxidation of methane, and some suitable catalysts and materials that can support the reaction of the conversion of methane into methanol.

Coal tar can be used as an alternative raw material for the production of liquid fuels, such as: gasoline and diesel through hydrogenation and cracking process. Hydrogenation and cracking process requires a catalyst which has metal components for hydrogenation reaction and acid components for cracking reaction. In this study, the Co/Zeolite Y and Co-Mo/Zeolite Y catalysts were prepared by impregnation and ion exchange methods. Characterizations of the catalysts were carried out by X-Ray Diffraction (XRD) and gravimetric acidity. The catalysts were tested for coal tar conversion to liquid fuel under various temperatures, amount of catalyst and hydrogen flow rates in a fixed bed flow reaction system. Liquid fuels products were analyzed by gas chromatography (GC). The XRD Spectra indicated that the addition of Co and Mo metals did not affect catalysts structure, however it alters the percentage of crystallinity. The addition of Co metal using impregnation method caused reduction in crystallinity, while the addition of Mo caused improvement of crystallinity. The Co-Mo/Zeolite Y catalyst with highest crystallinity was obtained by loading using ion exchange method. The addition of Co and Mo metals caused increasing acidity. However, the increasing composition of Co and Mo loaded on Zeolite Y catalyst decreased the yield of liquid fuels from coal tar. It can be concluded that the yields of liquid fuels and the composition of gasoline fractions from hydrocracking of coal tar were highly dependent on acidity of the catalyst.