Process analysis of physicochemical properties and chemical composition of organic liquid products obtained by thermochemical conversion of palm oil

Abstract

In this work, the influence of catalyst content on the physicochemical properties (acid value, saponification value, specific gravity, kinematic viscosity, and flash point), yield and chemical composition (hydrocarbons and oxygenates) of organic liquid products (OLP) obtained by thermal-catalytic cracking of palm oil (Elaeis guineensis, Jacq.) has been systematically investigated in technical scale. The pilot experiments were carry out in a stirred tank slurry reactor of 143L, operating in batch mode at 450°C and 1.0atm, using 5, 10, 15, and 20% (wt.) Na2CO3 as catalyst. The catalyst has been characterized by XRF and SEM techniques. The organic liquid products have been physicochemical characterized for acid and saponification values, specific gravity, refractive index, kinematics viscosity, copper strip corrosion, and flash point. The chemical composition of organic liquid products was determined by GC–MS. The experimental results indicate that initial cracking temperature, as well as specific gravity, kinematic viscosity, acid value, and saponification value of OLP show a tendency to decrease with increasing catalyst content. Hydrocarbons and oxygenates were the major chemical compounds present in OLP, with chemical composition strongly dependent on the catalyst content. The major hydrocarbons present in the organic liquid products have carbon chain length ranging from C12 to C15 and its summation shows a tendency to increase with increasing catalyst content, while the summation of oxygenate compounds shows a tendency to decrease. In addition, the distribution of hydrocarbons classes (normal paraffins, olefins, and naphthenics) present in OLP shows a maximum concentration for normal paraffins and naphthenics and a minimum concentration for olefins using 10% (wt.) Na2CO3 as catalyst.