DOI: https://doi.org/10.9767/bcrec.20662

Optimized Cobalt-Loaded Palm Oil Fuel Ash (Co/POFA) Catalyst for Syngas Production via Ethanol Dry Reforming

1Faculty of Chemical and Process Engineering Technology, Universiti Malaysia Pahang Al-Sultan Abdullah, 26300 Gambang, Pahang, Malaysia

2Department of Chemical Engineering, Faculty of Industrial Technology, Universitas Ahmad Dahlan, Jl. Jend. Ahmad Yani, Banguntapan, Bantul, Yogyakarta, Indonesia

3Department of Industrial Engineering, Faculty of Industrial Technology, Universitas Ahmad Dahlan, Jl. Jend. Ahmad Yani, Banguntapan, Bantul, Yogyakarta, Indonesia

4 Centre of Excellence for Advanced Research in Fluid Flow (CARIFF), Faculty of Industrial Sciences & Technology, Universiti Malaysia Pahang Al-Sultan Abdullah, 26300 Gambang, Pahang, Malaysia

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Received: 3 Feb 2026; Revised: 12 Mar 2026; Accepted: 12 Mar 2026; Available online: 15 Mar 2026; Published: 30 Oct 2026.
Editor(s): Istadi Istadi
Open Access Copyright (c) 2026 by Authors, Published by BCREC Publishing Group
Creative Commons License This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
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Abstract

Converting biogenic carbon and captured CO₂ into synthesis gas (syngas) via ethanol dry reforming (EDR) offers a pathway to low-carbon fuels, but catalyst instability and coking remain key barriers. Palm-oil fuel ash (POFA), a silica-rich agro-industrial waste, was investigated in this study as a support material for cobalt loading and to evaluate its performance in EDR. Co/POFA catalysts containing 5-20 wt % Co was prepared by ultrasonic-assisted incipient wetness, calcined, and tested for EDR at 750 °C. Nitrogen physisorption, FT-IR, and post-reaction TGA were employed to correlate catalyst texture, surface chemistry, and thermal stability with ethanol and CO₂ conversion, as well as H₂ and CO yields.  Maximal, durable activity occurred at the intermediate Co loading (15 wt%), where ethanol and CO₂ conversions were ~72% and 80% initially and remained ~50% and 68% after 5 h, the ~48% H₂ yield was sustained, consistent with a loading that maximizes accessible Co sites without incurring mesopore transport limitations. Lower loading of 5 wt % Co was site-limited and heavily coked, whereas excessive loading of 20 wt % Co showed rapid deactivation attributed to pore blockage and cobalt agglomeration despite minimal coke. Optimizing cobalt dispersion on conditioned POFA enables stable syngas production under demanding EDR conditions, validating Co/POFA as a viable waste-derived catalyst for circular, CO₂-utilizing hydrogen generation. Copyright © 2026 by Authors, Published by BCREC Publishing Group. This is an open access article under the CC BY-SA License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0).

Keywords: EDR; Cobalt catalyst; Oil Palm ash (OPA); Waste-derived support; CO₂ valorization; Hydrogen production.
Funding: Universitas Ahmad Dahlan under contract UIC241526/RDU242725; Universiti Malaysia Pahang Al-Sultan Abdullah under contract UIC241526/RDU242725

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Section: 3rd International Symposium of Reaction Engineering, Catalysis and Sustainable Energy 2025 (RECASE 2025)
Language : EN
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