Catalysis of Organic..

418 Production of Biodieselto a mass spectrometer was utilized for complementary product identification. Priorto reaction, in situ catalyst pretreatment was performed with constant flow ofhydrogen at 2 bar and 200˚C for 2 h.CoolerThermocoupleReactorSampling valveHeating jacketCondenser 1Condenser 2TICPICReactantGCHot plateFICFICAbbreviations:GC Gas chromatographyPI Pressure indicatorPIC Pressure controllerFIC Flow controllerTIC Temperature controllerArH 2HeH 2cooledheatedFigure 2. Experimental setup for the deoxygenation of renewable feedstocks.Results and DiscussionTextural properties of the commercial powder catalyst (e.g. surface area and poresize information) were obtained by a physisorption method. Additionally the meanparticle size of the fresh catalyst was measured by light scattering apparatus. Thesurface area of the fresh catalyst was 1214 m 2 /g, while all the surface areameasurements of spent catalyst showed a substantial decrease of surface area,indicating coke formation. Similarly the micropore volume decreased for all thespent catalysts compared to the fresh catalyst. The TGA analysis showed that nonpretreatedlost 11 wt% of total amount of combustibles at 450 °C, while pretreatedand fresh catalyst lost 22 wt% and 37 wt%, respectively, of total combustibles (in thetemperature range 270 - 800 °C) indicating that more severe coking was present onthe non-pretreated catalyst than on the pretreated catalyst. The highest rate of weightloss was noticed at 600°C and 560°C for non-pretreated and pretreated catalyst,respectively implying that the coke molecule is in average bigger on the nonpretreatedthan on the pretreated catalyst. The mean particle size of the fresh catalyst