DOI: https://doi.org/10.61435/ijred.2026.62076
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Characterization of zirconia sulfate catalyst for sustainable aviation fuel from waste cooking oil

1Department of Chemical Engineering, Faculty of Industrial Technology and Systems Engineering, Institut Teknologi Sepuluh Nopember, Jl. Raya ITS, Surabaya, Indonesia

2Research Center of Chemistry, National Research and Innovation Agency, Tangerang Selatan, Indonesia

Received: 8 Dec 2025; Revised: 28 Jan 2026; Accepted: 16 Feb 2026; Available online: 2 Mar 2026; Published: 1 May 2026.
Editor(s): H Hadiyanto
Open Access Copyright (c) 2026 The Author(s). Published by Centre of Biomass and Renewable Energy (CBIORE)
Creative Commons License This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

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Abstract

The growing accumulation of waste cooking oil (WCO) in Indonesia presents serious environmental concerns while offering potential as a renewable feedstock for sustainable aviation fuel. This study evaluates the conversion of WCO into bio-jet fuel via pyrolytic catalytic cracking (PCC) using cobalt-dispersed sulfated zirconia (Co/ZrO₂–SO₄, Co/SZ) catalysts under atmospheric pressure. Sulfated zirconia was synthesized hydrothermally and impregnated with 1, 3, and 5 wt% cobalt. Catalyst characterization by FTIR, XRD, BET, and SEM–EDX confirmed successful cobalt dispersion, preservation of the monoclinic ZrO₂ phase, and increasing surface area with higher cobalt loading (83.93 to 111.19 m² g⁻¹). Catalytic performance was tested in a fixed-bed reactor at 400, 430, and 460 °C with a feed-to-catalyst ratio of 100:1. GC–MS analysis revealed that both temperature and cobalt loading significantly influenced selectivity toward the jet fuel fraction (C₁₂–C₁₆). The highest bio-jet fuel selectivity (68.63%) and yield (57.46 wt%) were obtained using 5 wt% Co/SZ at 400°C. At 430 °C, excessive secondary cracking reduced selectivity to 27.78% for 3 wt% Co/SZ, with gasoline-range products reaching 62.70%. Increasing the temperature to 460 °C partially restored jet-range selectivity to 62.67% for 5 wt% Co/SZ due to enhanced isomerization and aromatization reactions. Reusability tests indicated gradual catalyst deactivation caused by coke deposition and loss of acid sites. These results demonstrate that the synergistic interaction between sulfated zirconia acidity and cobalt’s deoxygenation functionality enables efficient WCO conversion into bio-jet fuel, highlighting Co/SZ as a promising catalyst for sustainable aviation fuel production.

Keywords: Waste Cooking Oil; Hydrodeoxygenation; Cobalt-dispersed Sulfated Zirconia Nanocatalyst; Bio-jet Fuel

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Section: Original Research Article
Language : EN
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