This research was conducted to study upgrading bio-crude oil (BCO) produced by pyrolysis of palm oil without the use of a catalyst, using protonated zeolite-Y designated as H-Y. Preparation of H-Y was carried out by subjecting zeolite-Y synthesized from rice husk silica (RHS) and food grade aluminium foil (FGAF) to a cation exchange process using ammonium nitrate solution with different concentrations of 2.0, 2.5, 3.0, and 3.5 M to obtain (H-Y) samples with different protonation extents. To confirm the formation of Na-Y, the sample was characterized using XRD and SEM, and to evaluate the protonation, the Na-Y and H-Y samples were analyzed using XRF. Characterization using XRD showed that the Na-Y sample is faujasite, which is the characteristic phase of zeolite-Y, and supported by the existence of particles with octahedral structure as seen by SEM. Successful protonation resulted in a reduction of Na content up to 89.948% from that of the Na-Y, which was demonstrated by the XRF results. Catalytic upgrading experiments demonstrated that H-Y zeolites functioned to increase the bio-hydrocarbon content from 80.23% in the BCO to practically 100% in the upgraded oil. In addition, no acids were identified in the upgraded fuels, implying that H-Y zeolite is a promising catalyst for BCO upgrading for bio-hydrocarbon enrichment of the oil.
