Steel Reactor Research Articles

Eggshells as a sustainable source for acetone production

Everyday, tons of food wastes are thrown to the environment constantly by people in the cities, which contain many beneficial substances. One of these beneficial wastes of unknown value is eggshells. Although the eggshells are considered negligible and not valuable material, however, the many researches that dealt with this substance proved its high potential to turn into many useful substances such as a catalyst in biodiesel preparation or as a media for adsorption of heavy metals and dyes or soil fertilizer and others. The current study highlighted the benefit possibility of white chicken eggshells (WCES) from another side, considering it as a raw material for preparing acetone one of the most important industrial solvents. The results obtained showed that this worthless raw material has a high effectiveness for acetone production by containing 94.519% by weight of calcium carbonate. The process of converting WCES to acetone was carried out in two steps, the first one were producing calcium acetate by treating it with glacial acetic acid in a batch mode reaction unit at room temperature and agitation speed, acid % excess and contact time of 200 rpm, 20% and 2 h respectively. Whereas, the next step involved conducting the process of thermal decomposition of the prepared calcium acetate at 380 °C to produce acetone in a stainless steel reactor. The results of testing the samples by the gas chromatography (GC) showed that the maximum yield of acetone is 96.395%. With these experimental results, this study presents a new idea in food waste management as one of the solid waste types by utilizing it in a useful manner to produce important materials in an economical, beneficial and environmentally friendly way, reaching to the concept of zero residue level (ZRL).

Modification of the Material Surface by Boron Ions Based on Vacuum Arc Discharge Systems and a Planar Magnetron

The principle of operation and the characteristics of the experimental equipment intended for the generation of boron ion plasma and beams are presented. The equipment comprises a vacuum arc source of boron ions with boron isotope separation in a magnetic field and a plasma generator for deposition of boron-containing coatings based on a planar magnetron sputter. Common to this equipment is the use of lanthanum hexaboride cathodes, but for planar magnetron, a pure boron cathode heated in the discharge is also used. It is shown that, when silicon wafer is implanted with beams of 10B+ and 11B+ boron isotope ions with doses of 1014–1016 ion/cm2, the isotopic effect of the diode properties of the implanted surface is observed. The results of studies of the properties of the obtained boron-containing coatings on model materials: stainless steel, crystal silicon, and E110 (Zr–1Nb) reactor alloy are presented.

Evaluation of Biogas Production through Anaerobic Digestion of Aquatic Macrophytes in a Brazilian Reservoir

Aquatic macrophytes are important components of aquatic habitats. However, the overgrowth of aquatic plants can cause severe problems for the management of bodies of water. As a result, these plants must be removed and disposed of as waste. However, the usage of this biomass as a substrate in biogas plants would appear to be more beneficial. The present work deals with the anaerobic digestion (AD) of macrophytes species that cause inconvenience to power generation at hydroelectric plant in Minas Gerais - Brazil. The study examines the following macrophytes species; Salvinia molest Oxycarium cubense, Eichhornia crassipes, Pistia stratiotes and Brachiaria. The experiments were carried out as stainless steel reactor with temperature, agitation and pressure control. As pre-treatment of macrophytes was used heat treatment at 120°C and pressure of 1.6 atm. The maximum methane content was 60% during 40 days digestion time, for Brachiaria of higher lignin content. The result obtained, mainly with Brachiaria demonstrates the efficiency of pre-treatment for the lignocellulosic samples.

The degradation of cellulose in ionic mixture solutions under the high pressure of carbon dioxide.

This work aims to study the product characteristics of cellulose degradation not only by a hydrothermal process but also in combination with a sonication process. Herein, 4.3 mL of oxalic acid (H2C2O4)–sodium chloride (NaCl) solution containing cellulose was placed into a stainless steel reactor (or the mixture was placed into the reactor after the sonication process for 1 hour); then, carbon dioxide (CO2) was released for pressurization. Degradation was performed under certain pressures (70 and 200 bar) and temperatures (125 °C and 200 °C) at various times. Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) results indicated that the sonication pretreatment process affected the solid cellulose, making it rougher or fibrous than the non-sonicated process. XRD characterization results indicated that both process types caused changes in the crystallinity and composition of cellulose I and II with pressure, temperature, and time. The combination of sonication and hydrothermal processes resulted in lower crystallinity. Changes in crystallinity showed different characteristics in swelling, reduced the interaction between chains, and even broke the polymer chains inside the particles. In a hydrothermal process at 200 bar and 200 °C, a maximum reducing sugar concentration of 5.1 g L−1 was obtained, while 3.2 g L−1 was obtained in the combined sonication and hydrothermal process under the same operating condition, which is below the value attained at 200 °C and 70 bar. These results indicated the existing competition between the formation and further degradation of the reducing sugar, a phenomenon explained by the presence of a monomer (reducing sugar), an oligomer (cellotriose), and 5-HMF (5-hydroxymethyl-2-furaldehyde) in a liquid product processed under hydrothermal conditions.

Electrochemical Behaviour of Steel in Aqueous Alkanolamines for CO2 capture

Carbon dioxide capture using absorption-desorption by alkanolamines can mitigate carbon dioxide emissions, but corrosion of the steel reactor systems remains a limitation that depends on the amine type. The primary amine, monoethanolamine (MEA), a commonly used solvent for this process, forms carbamate ions (CH2CH2OHNHCOO-)when it absorbs CO2 and has been reported to corrode carbon steel. CO2 absorption in another popular solvent, the tertiary amine, methyldiethanolamine (MDEA), does not form carbamate, but rather hydrogen carbonate ions (HCO3 -), which facilitate FeCO3 formation on steel surfaces (Fig.1), limiting their corrosion rates.The surface reactions on iron in CO2-aqueous alkanolamine solutions were investigated by measuring current transients at an applied potential of -0.350 V vs. SHE at temperatures of 25 – 80 °C, concentrations of 5 and 3 M and various pHs. In aqueous 5 M MDEA solutions, an electrically resistive film formed on iron, evidenced from the sharp decrease in current density to ca. zero (Fig.2); similar behaviour was exhibited in 3 M MDEA(aq). By contrast, current transients measured in aqueous MEA solutions did not decrease sharply. Ex-situ surface characterisation by SEM and EDX detected FeCO3 (Fig.1) on the iron exposed to MDEA, but not on the iron sample exposed to MEA.We shall explain the formation mechanisms of films, if present, and report impedance spectra used to define conditions corresponding to electrically resistive, stable film formation that could be used to inhibit steel corrosion in carbon capture plants. Figure 1

Heterogeneous and platinum-initiated homogeneous combustion of nitrogen-containing heterocyclic compounds in the argon and water vapor media at elevated pressure

The paper presents the results on the oxidation of pyrrole and pyridine in the argon and water vapor media at high pressure and uniform heating of the tubular stainless steel reactor to 823 K. Experiments were carried out with lean and stoichiometric mixtures (fuel equivalence ratio φ = 0.78–1.01) at their dilution level x D = 36–65% mol. Based on the time dependences of the reaction mixture temperature, it is revealed that oxidation proceeds via the mechanisms of homogeneous and heterogeneous reactions. It was found that the oxidation rate of pyrrole depends on the amount of corrosion products accumulated on the reactor wall. It is shown that a Pt-Rh/Pt thermocouple inserted into the center of the reaction volume intensifies pyridine oxidation in the near-surface region. The difference in the oxidation mechanisms of pyrrole and pyridine is explained by the structure of their molecules.

Isomerization of Alkanes over Ionic Liquids Supported on SBA-15

Exploring the catalytic efficiency of ionic liquid supported on mesoporous material as heterogeneous organ catalysts for example, 1-Ethyl-3-methylimidazolium triflate and 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium chloride + AlCl3 (different ratio) immobilized on SBA-15 that contains 0.5% platinum, with regard to isomerization of n-pentane and n-hexane, along with commercial light naphtha feed conversion reactions. The prepared materials were characterized by several instrumental methods, which include temperature-programmed desorption to evaluate acid strength. The reactions were performed in a fixed-bed stainless steel reactor having high pressure by the down-flow method. This valuable novel isomerization reaction was strongly influenced by many key parameters, for instance, temperature, pressure, weight hourly space velocity, and flow rate of H2, which are discussed in detail. The Pt/EMIM-AlCl4(1:1)20/SBA-15 ionic liquid catalyst showed superior catalytic performance out of the four-catalyst system examined toward the above reactions, which is undoubtedly due to its significant turnover frequencies values of 8.6 s–1 and 8.5 s–1 and specific reaction rates values of 8.01 × 10–4 mol g–1 s–1 and 8.00 × 10–4 mol g–1 s–1 for n-pentane and n-hexane correspondingly. The order of catalytic activity is Pt/EMIM-AlCl4(1:1)20/SBA-15 > Pt-EMIM-Tf/SBA-15 > Pt/EMIM-Al2Cl7(1:2)20/SBA-15 > Pt-EMIM-Al2Cl7(1:2)30/SBA-15.

Catalytic Pyrolysis of Waste Plastics into Liquid Hydrocarbon using Mesoporous Kaolin Clay

Catalytic pyrolysis of waste plastics into liquid hydrocarbon was conducted in a locally-made stainless steel reactor. Mesoporous kaolin clay treated with sulfuric acid in the concentration range of 3-7 M was used as a catalyst and waste polyethylene was the plastic feed. The X-ray powder diffraction (XRPD) pattern showed that the raw kaolin clay is crystalline. However, XRPD patterns of H2SO4 acid treated kaolin and Ni and Ru metal impregnated H2SO4 treated kaolin did not exhibit any characteristic diffraction peaks of kaolin. The acid treatment of kaolin causes leaching of Al3+ and results in disintegration of layered structure of kaolin, leading to the formation of Al2(SO4)3, SiO2, and amorphous phase. After 5 M H2SO4 acid treatment, the content of Al2O3 decreased significantly to 18.62%. The Si/Al ratio and specific surface area were found to increase after 5 M sulfuric acid treatment from 1.79 to 3.48 and 6.85 m2/g to 17.92 m2/g, respectively. The nitrogen adsorption-desorption isotherms of the 5 M H2SO4 acid treated kaolin clay showed the isotherm to be of type IV typical for mesoporous structure. Among 3, 5, and 7 M H2SO4 treated kaolin catalysts, the 3 M H2SO4 treated kaolin (at a catalyst to plastic feed ratio of 1:5) exhibited the highest activity with the yield of 83% liquid hydrocarbon. The Ru- and Ni-impregnated 5 M H2SO4 treated kaolin catalyst provided 76% and 79% yield, respectively of liquid hydrocarbon at a catalyst to plastic ratio of 1:5. The gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS), 1H NMR, and FTIR spectral analysis confirmed the presence of linear and branched alkanes and alkenes (C9-C20) in the end product obtained with 5 M H2SO4 treated kaolin catalyst. The produced liquid hydrocarbon was found to be free from aromatic compounds importantly polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons which are potent mutagenic and carcinogenic.
 Journal of Bangladesh Academy of Sciences, Vol. 44, No. 1, 1-12, 2020

Alternative energy valorization routes of black liquor by stepwise supercritical water gasification: Effect of process parameters on hydrogen yield and energy efficiency

Supercritical water gasification is potentially suitable for wet biomass; however, commercializing this process requires comprehensive analysis of process conditions and addressing the plugging issue. The objectives of this study are to illustrate a step-wise injection method addressing solid deposition and plugging in the lab-scale tubular reactors and to determine the inter-dependent impacts of process conditions on the yields and reaction phenomena. In contrast to continuous feed, the step-wise injection method introduces solid deposition dispersed over the reactor, thus reducing the risk of reactor opening. However, the industrial application still requires a design enabling solid separation to prevent deposition. The investigated process conditions include stainless steel and Inconel reactors, temperatures of 600–750 °C, and short (133–162 s) versus long (300 s) residence times. Among these conditions, the Inconel reactor at 750 °C with long residence time provided the highest efficiency (87.8% cold gas efficiency) and hydrogen yield (24.92 mol/kg dry-ash-free, 0.646 mol/kg non-inert); also, the lowest char yield (25% carbon conversion to char) promoted gasification and suppressed repolymerization. When comparing various results from the techno-economic assessment viewpoint, the other considerable sets of process conditions include stainless steel reactor at 750 °C with short residence time and at 700 °C with long residence time. In addition, rather than dry or dry-ash-free basis, it is more informative to compare the yields from various studies in non-inert basis together with residence time and reactor material: implicitly assessing the comparison of investment and operation costs as well.

Stress reduction in a hydride container by the addition of a glidant agent

Hydrogen absorbing materials, such as metal hydrides, present a possible solution for hydrogen storage. During the absorption process these materials swell, which can put the mechanical integrity of its container at risk. One possibility is to increase the flowability of the absorbing material, usually a fine cohesive powder, so that it can rearrange within its container during the swelling stage. In this work, we study if this rearrangement could be improved by the addition of Aerosil, a type of colloidal silica widely used as glidant agent. The walls of a stainless steel reactor are instrumented with strain gauges to measure the accumulation of stresses due to hydrogen absorption-desorption cycles. We explore the container filled with pure LaNi5 absorbing material previously activated, so as with different Aerosil-added proportions. Results show that Aerosil allows avoiding stress build-up, for all glidant concentrations used in present study.

Alkylation of Toluene with tert-Butyl Alcohol over Different Zeolites with the Same Si/Al Ratio

Three zeolites (Beta, Mordenite and ZSM-5), which present different pore channels but the same Si/Al ratio (25), were used as catalysts to investigate the effects of acidity and channel structure on the catalytic activity for toluene butylation at 180°C in an automated high-pressure stainless steel reactor. The same Si/Al ratio of the three zeolites did not result in a similar catalytic activity, since both acidity and channel structures of zeolites can affect catalytic activity. Zeolite Beta possessing a 3D 12-ring channel system, the smallest crystal size and larger amount of B acid sites exhibited the highest toluene conversion (54.0%). Mordenite, with 32.7% toluene conversion, presented higher para-selectivity than Beta, which can be explained by the shape-selective catalysis. ZSM-5 with the largest amount of B acid sites showed the lowest catalytic activity, since alkylation can occur only on the surface active sites.

THE EFFECT OF NICKEL CONTENT IMPREGNATED ON ZEOLITE TOWARD CATALYTIC ACTIVITY AND SELECTIVITY FOR HYDROTREATING OF CASHEW NUT SHELL LIQUID OIL

This research aims to investigate the effect of various amount of Ni metal which is impregnated on Mordenitetoward the catalytic activity of the Cashew Nut Shell Liquid Oil (CNSLO) hydrotreating process. The Ni/Mordenitecatalysts were prepared by wet impregnation method using Ni(NO3)2ꞏ6H2O with the Ni content varied under 1, 3, 5wt.% and mordenite which were dissolved in methanol and carried out drying, calcination, and reduction.Hydrotreating is carried out in a semi-batch stainless steel reactor which is flowed with H2 gas. The catalyst wascharacterized and analyzed by Fourier Transform Infrared, X-Ray Diffractometer, Scanning Electron Microscope-Energy Dispersive X-Ray Spectrometer, Transmission Electron Microscopy, Gas Sorption Analyzer, and AtomicAbsorption Spectrophotometer. The total acid amount test was carried out using ammonia vapor adsorption with thegravimetric method. The liquid product of hydrotreating was analyzed by Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectroscopy.Increasing the amount of metal impregnated on mordenite will increase the total acid site, activity, and selectivity ofthe gasoline fraction.

THE EFFECT OF NICKEL CONTENT IMPREGNATED ON ZEOLITE TOWARD CATALYTIC ACTIVITY AND SELECTIVITY FOR HYDROTREATING OF CASHEW NUT SHELL LIQUID OIL

This research aims to investigate the effect of various amount of Ni metal which is impregnated on Mordenitetoward the catalytic activity of the Cashew Nut Shell Liquid Oil (CNSLO) hydrotreating process. The Ni/Mordenitecatalysts were prepared by wet impregnation method using Ni(NO3)2ꞏ6H2O with the Ni content varied under 1, 3, 5wt.% and mordenite which were dissolved in methanol and carried out drying, calcination, and reduction.Hydrotreating is carried out in a semi-batch stainless steel reactor which is flowed with H2 gas. The catalyst wascharacterized and analyzed by Fourier Transform Infrared, X-Ray Diffractometer, Scanning Electron Microscope-Energy Dispersive X-Ray Spectrometer, Transmission Electron Microscopy, Gas Sorption Analyzer, and AtomicAbsorption Spectrophotometer. The total acid amount test was carried out using ammonia vapor adsorption with thegravimetric method. The liquid product of hydrotreating was analyzed by Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectroscopy.Increasing the amount of metal impregnated on mordenite will increase the total acid site, activity, and selectivity ofthe gasoline fraction.

Synthesis of Zeolite Catalyst from Geothermal Solid Waste for Crude Glycerol Dehydration to Acrolein

Limited reserves of conventional fossil fuels have led people to come up with alternative fuels. Biodiesel is one of the alternative fuels that mostly produced nowadays. Glycerol as byproduct of biodiesel production can be converted to acrolein trough dehydration reaction. Acrolein is an important intermediate for the production of chemicals product and also used for agricultures. Application of various catalyst in glycerol dehydration to acrolein has been reported. Zeolite is a micro-porous, alumino-silicate mineral that can be used as catalyst for this reaction. Geothermal solid waste contains silica that can be used as zeolite catalyst raw material. In this research, zeolite catalyst was synthesized from geothermal solid waste in hydrothermal reactor at 150°C for 8 hours. The catalyst product was characterized by EDX and showed that the zeolite catalyst was analcime type. BET characterization showed that this catalyst has mesoporous surface area. Catalyst application on glycerol dehydration was occurred in fixed-bed stainless steel reactor. This process produced liquid product and analysed by FT-IR. The FT-IR result showed that the liquid product contains acrolein. The variation amount of catalyst in dehydration process affect to the glycerol conversion. The increasing of catalyst amount enhanced glycerol conversion.

Laboratory Scaled Coal Dust Explosions and Physical Test Results for CFD Explosion Models

The work was carried out during an exchange program of several-months at the Colorado School of Mines (CSM) in Golden, Colorado. The goal of the thesis was to investigate scaled methane and coal dust explosions for the validation of CFD models. A series of different tests were performed in a horizontal, cylindrical steel reactor with a length of 1.5 m and a diameter of 63 mm at a scale of about 1:30. These tests are used to investigate the effect of coal dust on the combustion process by measuring the velocity of propagation. Furthermore, a reactor was constructed to visualize coal dust explosions, their interaction with the methane flame and the entrainment of coal dust particles. These approaches will help to understand the relationship between the particle dispersion and the turbulent flame propagation and to prepare experiments in a larger, ~1:5 scaled steel reactor (L = 31 m, D = 0.71 m).

Optimization of Levulinic acid production from groundnut shell using Taguchi orthogonal array design

The exploitation of lignocellulosic biomass is receiving an increasing attention due to its renewability, abundance and low price value, and can be converted into various valuable platform compounds such as furfural, lactic acid, formic acid and levulinic acid. Among these products, levulinic acid (LA) is the main compound of biomass hydrolysis, which has been classified by the United States Department of Energy as one of the top-12 promising building blocks. This work reported the transformation of groundnut shell into LA. The production of LA was carried out in a 50 cm3 Teflon lined stainless steel reactor. The LA produced was extracted from the aqueous mixture using ethyl acetate, about 1g of sodium sulphate anhydrous were added to remove the water in the organic layer after the aqueous layer was drained and then heated at a temperature of about 78 oC for the solvent to evaporate and LA was the residue. The production process was optimized using a Taguchi orthogonal array design, with optimum yield of 74.54 % at reaction conditions of temperature (180 °C), time (3.5 h), and acid concentration (0.3 M). The FT-IR spectrum of the produced LA showed absorption at about 1705.13 cm-1 and 3039.91 cm-1 indicating the conjugated carbonyl and the hydroxyl of carboxylic acid functional group. It was recommended that high yields of LA can be achieved across a range of optimization variables as long as two out of the three conditions are met: high acid catalyst concentration, long reaction time or high temperature within the range tested, as LA is relatively stable once formed. Moreover, the results obtained revealed that groundnut shell could be a potential substrate for levulinic acid production.
 Keywords: Groundnut shell, Levulinic acid, Optimization, Hydrolysis, Taguchi design.

Valorization of solid waste biomass by inoculation for the enhanced yield of biogas

The current work reports experimental outcomes about anaerobic digestion (AD) of the organic fraction of catering solid waste to produce biogas and methane yield and solidity of the entire system. The possibility of developing AD as an efficient technique for food waste management has also been considered. Inoculation is an established technique to enhance biogas yield through digested sludge, rumen fluid, and slurry recirculation; although this method is proven on cattle manure, however, it is not well studied on food waste. The current study investigates the use of animal intestinal waste as inoculums to enhance biogas yield of food waste. The findings are benchmarked with cattle manure employing known digester materials of carbon steel, aluminum alloy, and at anaerobic mesophilic conditions. The inoculation was varied up to 30% by mass of the substrate materials in each case. The research finds that food waste inoculation was up to 30% using carbon steel reactor under mesophilic temperature conditions (30 ± 1 °C). The food waste produced biogas at a faster rate with a higher yield compared to cattle manure in all digester materials. The biogas yield kept increasing with increasing inoculum ratio reaching optimal at 30% in the case of both food waste and cattle manure with all the digester materials.

Product Distribution and Characteristic from Pyrolysis of Indonesia Palm Oil Residues

During the production, palm oil industry generated around 4 ton of dry biomass waste such empty fruit bunch (EFB), palm kernel shell (PKS), and palm oil fiber (PF) for each 1 ton of palm oil extracted. As main industry in Indonesia, palm oil industry offered not only the oil product but also biomass waste which was potential for clean energy sources. The utilization of those biomass residue is still limited due to lack of information related to conversion method as well as characteristic of various product. This research focuses on the product distribution and characterization of biomass pyrolysis especially PKS and PF. Pyrolysis experiments were conducted using both thermogravity (TG) method and stainless steel reactor at temperature range of 450–550°C. Based on the TG method that biomass was heated up until 1000°C in nitrogen atmosphere, PKS exhibited slower decomposition process rather than PF because of high value of hardness and fixed carbon. Two strong peaks were seen clearly which the first peak correspond to hemicellulose and lignin decomposition that proceed in the temperature range of 200 – 300°C. While, the second peak represented to cellulose and lignin decomposition that occurred in the temperature range of 300 – 500°C. Pyrolysis at higher temperature initiated smaller amount of solid product due to volatilization and higher ash content. The ash composed of several chemical such as Si, Al, Ca, Mn etc which would still remain in the solid product when temperature was increased. However, the fixed carbon and heating value enhanced significantly as increasing temperature. Clearly, based on the SEM images, the biochar hold better pore structure compared to raw material. In the pyrolysis process, the volatile matter moved to gas phases and create abundant vacant as pore structure in the solid product. These results offers opportunities of better utilization of palm oil residues not only energy conversion but also other area such as adsorbent, bio-fertilizer/soil conditioning.

Optimization of electroslag melting towards to titanium morphology improvement in combined Kroll process

Purpose The paper aims to optimize calcium difluoride electrical melting process towards creating titanium production with improved morphology by combining titanium reduction and electroslag melting processes. The study aims to explore optimal electrical heating power in the slag supplied via tungsten electrode and formation of a stable skull layer on water-cooled walls of a cylindrical stainless steel reactor, which is crucial for electroslag melting. Design/methodology/approach The multi-physical numerical modelling approach using commercial software COMSOL Multiphysics is presented in the paper by coupling electrical, heat transfer and fluid flow problems. The slag material phase change and corresponding changes of physical properties such as electrical conductivity and viscosity are modelled by step function, sharply changing value of parameter near the phase change temperature. A parametric study of applied electrical power has been carried out to find optimal conditions for the skull-layer formation. Findings The paper provides an estimation of necessary electrical power to avoid overheating or solidification of the top layer of slag, which is unacceptable for the combined Kroll process. The study also revealed important poloidal buoyancy flow with characteristic velocity of few cm/s of in the reactor, which governs the heat transfer process and formation of the skull layer. Research limitations/implications The presented simplification in numerical model offers high calculation speed but lacks fully developed phase change model, e.g. excluding latent heat. Also, heat transfer through radiation is neglected in the model. Originality/value The paper presents an original way to overcome the complexity of modelling slag electrical melting/solidification phenomena using temperature-dependent properties with step functions.

Sustainable hydrocarbon fuels via “one-pot” catalytic deoxygenation of waste cooking oil using inexpensive, unsupported metal oxide catalysts

The present work explores the potential to upgrade waste cooking oil (WCO) via deoxygenation using inexpensive, unsupported metal oxide catalysts (CaO, TiO2, Mn(IV)O, and ZnO) in the absence of a hydrogen feedstock. WCO was mixed with 5 wt% catalyst material in a stainless steel reactor and heated to 300 °C for 60 min. The relative concentration of fatty acids increased upon heating in the absence of any catalyst, from ~15% of the total identifiable compounds for WCO to 64% for the Organic Liquid Products as a result of the nearly complete conversion of aldehyde and ester groups to organic acids, alkanes and aromatics. The inorganic catalysts shifted the product distributions significantly. CaO and ZnO slightly increased the concentration of acidic groups (versus WCO) but produced less acids than OLP alone, while Mn(IV)O and TiO2 resulted in overall decreases of free fatty acids. Mn(IV)O showed a slight preference for alkene formation, whereas TiO2 was selective toward alkanes. All catalysts – and uncatalyzed heating – showed significant deoxygenation in terms of ridding the WCO of C-O groups. Thermal treatment of WCO (with and without catalysts) resulted in a 25% increase in higher heating values, in line with those of commercial jet fuels. While the “one-pot” catalytic upgrading of WCO would not result in a direct substitute for aviation fuel, this work demonstrated the potential to significantly upgrade WCO using an inexpensive catalyst without relying on copious amounts of hydrogen gas to affect a hydrodeoxygenation reaction.