Thermal Cracking of Canola Oil: Reaction Products in the Presence and Absence of Steam

Abstract

The product distribution obtained from the thermal cracking of canola oil was studied at atmospheric pressure in a fixed-bed reactor in the temperature range 300−500 °C and gas hourly space velocity (GHSV) in the range 3.3−640 h-1 over inert materials and in the presence and absence of steam. Results showed that canola oil conversions were high (54−100 wt %) and depended strongly on the operating variables. Products essentially consisted of C4 and C5 hydrocarbons, aromatic and C6+ aliphatic hydrocarbons, and C2-C4 olefins, as well as a diesel-like fuel fraction and hydrogen. GC−MS analyses showed that product distribution as well as the lengths of the carbon chain of hydrocarbons and oxygenated hydrocarbons depended strongly not only on the cracking temperature and space velocity but also on whether cracking was conducted in the presence or absence of steam. On the other hand, cracking over inert materials showed that both conversion and product distribution were completely independent of morphology of th...