Renewable biofuel production from hydrocracking of soybean biodiesel with a commercial petroleum Ni-W catalyst

Abstract

ABSTRACTAs a potential hydrocarbon production method, the hydrocracking of soybean biodiesel, using a commercial petroleum hydrocracking catalyst, was studied. Experiments were carried out in a 1,000 mL, high-pressure autoclave for 2–4 hr over the temperature range of 200–280°C under an initial hydrogen pressure of 10 MPa. Hydrocracking of soybean biodiesel produced n-paraffins in the C8–C17 boiling range, which includes both green gasoline and diesel. Both pressure and temperature play important roles in the transformation of soybean biodiesel. Hydrocarbons can be formed above 220°C with a liquid yield of 81.76%. The n-alkanes content of the liquid product reached 32.29% at 280°C, with 88.32% C11–C14 selectivity. In addition, hydrocracking results in many changes of catalyst such as physical properties, morphology, etc. For the used catalyst, the concentrations of Ni and C increased, and the pore channels were significantly reduced.