Preparation of Kerosene from Lubricating Oil Waste using

Microwave-assisted and Activated Carbon Pyrolysis from Lignite

Marinda Rahim

, Mardhiyah Nadir, Fitriyana

and Wanda Syahira

Department of Chemical Engineering, Politeknik Negeri Samarinda, Ciptomangunkusumo Street, Samarinda, Indonesia

Keywords: Kerosene, Lignite, Lubricating Oil Waste, Microwave, Pyrolysis.

Abstract: This study discusses one method that offers a simultaneous solution to reduce lubricating oil waste while

providing fuel. Both the treatment of lubricating oil waste and supply of fuel are classic problems in

developing countries such as Indonesia, but require serious handling because they will become crucial

problems in the future. Lubricating oil waste is classified as hazardous and toxic material, and particularly the

amount of motorcycle lubricating oil waste reaches 1.2 GL. which will continue to increase from year to year.

The goal of this study is to convert lubricating oil waste, specifically from motorcycles, into kerosene through

microwave-assisted pyrolysis and using activated carbon from lignite sized 12 mesh as microwave absorbent.

The experiment was conducted in various absorbent mass i.e. 80, 90, 100, 120, and 140 g, then each was

added in 200 mL of lubricating oil waste. The mixture then took place in glass reactor and was heated in 800

W powered of microwave at constant temperature of 400 ⁰C for 3 hours. The vapour product of pyrolysis was

cooled in a series of condenser to obtain fuel. Fraction similarity of kerosene was analysed with GC-FID,

meanwhile its classification of the carbon chain length compound was identified by GC-MS. Properties were

measured for its density (15 ⁰C) using ASTM D-1298 method and specific energy using bomb calorimeter.

140 g mass of absorbent produced the most similar chromatogram to kerosene standard and was able to obtain

the composition of C

-C

fraction in amount of 90.61%. This product has density of 817.363 kg/m

and

specific energy of 45.49 MJ/kg. It is important to develop this research to increase the kerosene fraction by

examining the effect of temperature to control the endothermic thermal cracking reaction.

1 INTRODUCTION

Because people still rely heavily on private

transportation, Indonesia becomes a country with

relatively high motorcycle users reaching

112,771,136 units in 2019 (Badan Pusat Statistik

Indonesia, 2020) and will grow to about 6% per year.

This circumstance effects on the increasing amount of

both of lubricating oil waste and also fuel needs. The

data above then could be used to predict Indonesia’s

potential of lubricating oil waste in that year i.e. 1.2

Lubricating oil waste is categorized into

hazardous and toxic material so that it requires the

proper handling method. One of the methods that can

be developed is to process lubricating oil waste into

fuel as well as kerosene through cracking technique.

This method is capable of cutting long hydrocarbon

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5546-6209

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9707-0050

chain (C

- C

), which is the main compound of

lubricating oil waste, to be hydrocarbon compound of

kerosene which has shorter hydrocarbon chain (C

). Kerosene that is processed in this way can be an

alternative source of fuel supply that complements the

source of fossil fuel which is non-renewable energy.

Kerosene has a variety of utility such as being a

precursor for aviation turbine gasoline, for

illumination, as well as for tractor vaporizing oil

(Jones & Pujado, 2008).

Cracking techniques as previously described have

been investigated through the catalytic cracking

process using sulfated zirconia catalyst and can

produce kerosene fraction as much as 9,04%

(Permsubscul, Vitidsant, & Damronglerd, 2007).

Moreover, other researchers has been using

Fe/SiO

-Al

for catalytic cracking process and

able to produce kerosene fraction of 15.71%

794

Rahim, M., Nadir, M., Fitriyana, . and Syahira, W.

Preparation of Kerosene from Lubricating Oil Waste using Microwave-assisted and Activated Carbon Pyrolysis from Lignite.

DOI: 10.5220/0010953800003260

In Proceedings of the 4th International Conference on Applied Science and Technology on Engineering Science (iCAST-ES 2021), pages 794-799

ISBN: 978-989-758-615-6; ISSN: 2975-8246

 2023 by SCITEPRESS – Science and Technology Publications, Lda. Under CC license (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0)

(Makvisai, Promdee, Tanatavikorn, & Vitidsan,

2016). Even though these experiments do not produce

kerosene in particular, but both have succeeded to

show the potential of cracking lubricating oil waste

into fuel including kerosene.

Cracking process of lubricating oil waste into

kerosene can be done through microwave-assisted

pyrolysis method. This technique is one of the most

promising methods of enhancing and accelerating

chemical reactions (Motasemi & Afzal, 2013).

Microwaves can heat materials at specific targets

because heat is generated from within the material

itself through the mechanism of polar molecular

agitation under the effect of an oscillating electricity

or magnetic field, so that heating can take place

effectively (Taylor, Singh, & Minhas, 2005).

Therefore the using microwave heating required less

energy (del Mundo, Cavarlez, Pe, & Roces, 2018).

However, this method can be potently carried out

using microwave absorbent to overcome the low

dielectric property of lubricating oil waste.

Microwave absorbents can be made from a variety of

raw materials that are cheap and easy to obtain, like

coconut shells, coal,

or banana peels, if treated further

into activated carbon. The capability of activated

carbon as a microwave absorbent is very reliable

because it is supported by relatively high dielectric

characteristics (Menéndez et al., 2010).

The success of the microwave-assisted pyrolysis

process using activated carbon absorbents has been

proven by the following researchers. Bu et al., (2013)

has developed the microwave pyrolysis process of

Douglas fir sawdust pellets using activated carbon

from lignite coal. Meanwhile Lam, Russell, Lee, &

Chase, (2012) has developed pyrolysis process to

crack high density polyethylene into liquid product

that is matching with petrol and diesel using

microwave-assisted process and commercial

activated carbon (Aquacarb 207EA, Chemviron). In

addition, Rahim, (2017) has also developed

microwave-assisted pyrolysis to convert waste from

lubricating oil from motorcycles to gasoline using

activated carbon absorbent from lignite. On the other

hand, activated carbon from coconut husk was used

and succeed to transform waste shipping oil into a

diesel-like fuel via microwave-assisted pyrolysis

(Mahari et al., 2017). The term pyrolysis refers to the

process by which material decomposes thermally in

the absence of oxygen (Rabiu, Auta, & Kovo, 2018).

In particular, this study aims to treat lubricating

oil waste into product that has a rich kerosene fraction

through microwave-assisted pyrolysis techniques by

observing the effect of the microwave absorbent mass

made from lignite. Cracking process of heavy fraction

hydrocarbon is the complex reaction and since the

specific target of the hydrocarbon structure to be

generated is substances type with the C

-C

chain

length, this research becomes important to carry out.

The amount of absorbent utilized can influence the

amount of microwaves absorbed and then released as

heat that can lead to the desired reaction.

In this research lignite was chosen as activated

carbon raw material for absorbing microwave due to

lignite is one of the feedstock with potential amount

in Indonesia but less beneficial if use as fuel with

combustion directly. British Petroleum, (2020) has

released the data that Indonesia’s total proved

reserves of low rank coal, including lignite, reach

29.4% at end 2019. Indonesian lignite, especially at

East Kalimantan Province, has relatively high enough

fixed carbon that is 31.55% (Patmawati, Alwathan, &

Ramadani, 2020).

2 MATERIALS AND METHODS

The main materials, namely lubricating oil waste and

lignite, were obtained from motorcycle garage and

coal mining areas located in Samarinda City, East

Kalimantan Province. The study began by first

preparing activated carbon from lignite, as a

microwave absorbent, using the method in detail

described by Rahim and Fitriyana, (2018).

Furthermore 200 mL of lubricating oil waste

from motorcycle was mixed with various absorbent

mass of activated carbon sizing 12 mesh in the reactor

flask. Mass variations used were 80, 90, 100, 120 and

140 g. The material mixture was then placed in 800

W microwave and then the reactor flask was

connected to a series of condensers. The pyrolysis

process was carried out for three hours and the

temperature was maintained at 400

C with a

temperature controller. Vapour product from

pyrolysis was then passed through a series of

condensers to get liquid fuel. Nitrogen flow of 200

mL/min was used to support flowing process of

vapour to the condenser. The kerosene result fraction

of each variation was analysed using a gas

chromatography flame ionization detector (GC-FID)

and gas chromatography mass spectrometry (GC-

MS), while the characteristics of the resulting

kerosene product were measured through the density

(15

C) also calorific value respectively using the

ASTM D-1298 and bomb calorimeter methods.

Preparation of Kerosene from Lubricating Oil Waste using Microwave-assisted and Activated Carbon Pyrolysis from Lignite

795

3 RESULT AND DISCUSSION

The results of GC FID chromatogram from the fuel

products obtained were compared to similarity with

the standard chromatogram of lubricating oil waste

and kerosene. Chromatograms data were processed

using Origin 7 software. The illustration of the

chromatogram peaks is shown in figure 1.

When viewed from the characteristics of the

retention time and the peak formed, it is seen the

difference on the chromatogram of the product with

the lubricating oil waste chromatogram. The output

of the gas chromatography analysis in figure 1 (a)

shows a significant peak for lubricating oil waste

occurring at a retention time of 40 - 60 minutes. This

shows lubricating oil waste containing heavy

fractions with long carbon chain hydrocarbons.

While the chromatogram for the product resulting

from the process of pyrolysis of lubricating oil waste,

shows those significant peaks in figure 1 (b) to 1 (f)

occur at shorter retention times, which are on average

of 3 - 50 minutes. This indicates that there has been

cracking process of long chain hydrocarbons to

hydrocarbons with shorter chains.

(a)

(b)

(c)

(d)

(e)

(f)

Figure 1: Chromatograms of (a) Lubricating oil waste;

product compared with standard kerosene for absorbent

mass (b) 80 g; (c) 90 g; (d); 100 g; (e) 120 g; (f) 140 g.

0 102030405060

-200000

200000

400000

600000

800000

1000000

1200000

1400000

1600000

Height (



Retention Time (min)

Standard of kerosene

Product 1

0 102030405060

-200000

200000

400000

600000

800000

1000000

1200000

1400000

1600000

Height (



Retention Time (min)

Standard of kerosene

Product 2

0 102030405060

-200000

200000

400000

600000

800000

1000000

1200000

1400000

1600000

Retention Time (min)

Height (



Standard of kerosene

Product 3

0 102030405060

-200000

200000

400000

600000

800000

1000000

1200000

1400000

1600000

Height (V)

Retention Time (min)

Standard of kerosene

Product 4

0 102030405060

-200000

200000

400000

600000

800000

1000000

1200000

1400000

1600000

Height (



Retention Time (min)

Standard of kerosene

Product 5

Height (mV)

Retention Time (minute)

iCAST-ES 2021 - International Conference on Applied Science and Technology on Engineering Science

796

The results of the product chromatogram which

are considered to represent the kerosene fraction are

those that show significant peaks at the retention time

of 3 - 40 minutes as shown by the standard kerosene

chromatogram. While chromatograms that appear at

retention times lower than 3 minutes are expressed as

lighter fractions of kerosene and vice versa that

appear at retention times higher than 40 minutes are

considered to be heavier fractions of kerosene.

In the use of a relatively low absorbent mass that

is 80 g, the expected pyrolysis has not been occurred

yet completely which is evident from none emergence

of significant peaks of the product chromatogram at

3-40 minutes retention time as showed in figure 1 (b).

This exhibits that the absorbent mass utilized is not

sufficient to produce heat that can crack the long

hydrocarbon chain.

Table 1: Composition of hydrocarbon compound.

Hydrocarbon

compound

(

)

Mass of absorbent (g)

80 90 100 120 140

Paraffin 60.5

55.4

44.5

44.8

38.7

Iso

araffin

17.3

17.0

16.7

19.5

23.1

Olefin 19.5

23.1

32.1

28.9

32.5

Cycloparaffi

n 0.00 1.64 0.86 0.93 3.38

Aromatic 1.98 1.96 4.97 5.03 1.61

Table 2: Composition of carbon chain length.

Carbon

chain length

(

)

Mass of absorbent

(g)

80 90 100 120 140

- C

3.54 3.17 9.79 8.20 7.25

- C

73.59 74.53 84.60 84.30 88.32

-C

17.13 16.14 2.58 4.29 2.29

-C

4.19 5.44 2.30 2.51 1.45

1.00 - - - -

Although the cumulative composition of C

-C

could

reach 90.72% but product still contain heavy fraction (C

), in range kerosene fraction, quite much namely 17.13%,

and lighter fraction (C

-C

) only reach 73.59%. Meantime

the heaviest fraction (C

-C

) reach 5.19%. Although the

-C

fraction appeared at retention time of 3-40 minutes,

the carbon chain length produced was not a kerosene

fraction,

as can be looked in the distribution of

composition of carbon chain length in table 2. Based on data

in table 1, the hydrocarbon compound is still dominated by

paraffin species as much as 60.54%.

On the use of more absorbent mass i.e. 90 to 140

g, significant chromatogram peaks appear at 3-40

minutes retention times and it has indicated the

formation of compounds with hydrocarbon chain of

kerosene fraction. This also further tends increasing

the composition of the C

-C

fraction up to 88.32%

on the utilization of 140 g mass of absorbent as well

as the amount of C

-C

and C

-C

could be

reduced till 2.294% and 1.45% respectively. The

escalation in absorbent mass, that listed in table 1,

also causes trend of raising the composition of

hydrocarbon in olefin and isoparaffin species which

exhibits that the stages of primary cracking reaction

lead to olefin formation an also drive isomerization as

secondary reaction. As it is known the secondary

reactions, such as reforming, isomerization,

alkylation, and polymerization, occur in thermal

cracking (Speight, 2015). This phenomenon is a

nature of endothermic thermal cracking reactions.

Where the utilization of greater absorbent mass will

further increase the absorption of microwaves and

then released as greater heat into lubricating oil waste.

As a consequence, primary and secondary reactions

can take place more quickly.

An interesting result is shown in the utilization of

120 g absorbent mass. Previously, it was expected

that the chromatogram resulted would be closer to the

standard kerosene chromatogram along with the

increasing mass of the absorbent used. Although the

cumulative result of products in the kerosene fraction

range is quite high at 88.59%, the elevation of the

product chromatogram peaks tends to be very low

compared to the standard kerosene peaks so as to

form a flat chromatogram as shown in figure 1 (e).

The product obtained shows the tendency of the

formation of compounds in the range of kerosene

fractions with more diverse types of compounds, as

consequence there are no compounds with high

composition. The results of GC MS analysis have

identified 98 types of compounds that appear in this

product.

The product chromatogram that is most similar to

the kerosene standard chromatogram is the product

chromatogram that used the most absorbent mass of

140 g as shown in figure 1 (f). In the use of this

absorbent mass can be absorbed microwaves which

then produce sufficient heat to break the chain of

hydrocarbons so as to result a product that mostly has

a carbon chain length in the range of hydrocarbon

chains for kerosene.

Preparation of Kerosene from Lubricating Oil Waste using Microwave-assisted and Activated Carbon Pyrolysis from Lignite

797

Figure 2: Properties value of product.

Refer to the data that showed in figure 2, it is seen

that the mass of activated carbon as a microwave

absorbent influences the density value of pyrolysis

products. The higher mass of activated carbon causes

the pyrolysis product density inclines to decrease

which indicates that the pyrolysis product formed has

the smaller molecular weight. All of products density

has value lower than raw material which has a density

of 871.114 kg/m

Specific energy is one of important characteristic

of kerosene as fuel. The specific energy of products

was not influenced significantly by the elevation of

mass absorbent and those values are in the range

45.42 – 45.60 MJ/kg. However, it seems that this

property is influenced by the quantity of paraffin and

isoparafin compounds formed. Overall the specific

energy of the products are convenient of kerosene

value based on Defence Standard 91-091 which

requires a minimum value of 42.80 MJ/kg (Ministry

of Defence, 2019).

This research can be developed to further improve

the kerosene fraction (C

-C

), and reduce the lightest

fraction (C

-C

) and the heaviest fraction (C

-C

This can be conducted by examining the effect of

temperature, because the thermal cracking reaction is

endothermic.

4 CONCLUSIONS

This research has provided some key information

related to pyrolysis of lubricating oil waste into

kerosene with assisted microwaves, namely:

1. Active carbon from lignite is potential as a

microwave absorber to generate heat to crack long

chain hydrocarbon of lubricating oil waste.

2. The mass of activated carbon as much as 140 g

can generate adequate heat to result a stable

product in the kerosene fraction hydrocarbon

range (C

-C

) as much as 90.61%.

3. This product has properties of density and specific

energy values are 817.363 kg/m

and 45.49 MJ/kg

consecutively.

4. In general, the experimental results obtained in

this research indicate the potential for conversion

of lubricating oil waste into kerosene.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Our highest gratitude and appreciation are extended

to the Research and Community Service Center of

Politeknik Negeri Samarinda for funding this

research.

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Preparation of Kerosene from Lubricating Oil Waste using Microwave-assisted and Activated Carbon Pyrolysis from Lignite

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