Synthesis of KF/CaO as a catalyst for the production of bio-fuel from cracking of Cornus wisoniana oil

This study aimed to prepare KF/CaO catalyst with high catalytic activity that can be applied to produce bio-fuel from Cornus wisoniana oil. The KF/CaO catalyst was characterized by Brunauer–Emmett–Teller surface area (BET), XRD, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and temperature programmed desorption (TPD). The chemical compositions of C. wisoniana oil and bio-fuel oil were analyzed by GC–MS. The effect of the catalyst preparation conditions on catalytic activity was investigated. The optimal process conditions for the KF/CaO preparation were KF loading rate of 40%, calcination temperature of 600°C, and 4 h calcination time. Under the optimum process conditions, the bio-fuel yield reached 82.7 and 65% bio-fuel yield was obtained after being reused nine times. The bio-fuel oil obtained by catalytic cracking has similar chemical compositions to petroleum-based diesel, which exhibited good fuel properties. KF/CaO was used as a catalyst for the production of bio-fuel from cracking of Cornus wisoniana oil.