The Synthesis of Renewable Hydrocarbons from Vegetable Oil Feedstock In The Presence Of Ni-Supported Catalysts

The effects of commercial Ni65%/SiO2-Al2O3 and prepared Ni10%/SiO2-Al2O3-135I Ni-supported catalysts and their amount (1.5-10%) on hydrocarbon production from rapeseed oil/it fatty acid (RO/RFA, weight ratio 1/1) feedstock were investigated. The textural properties of catalysts were characterized by N2 sorption analysis and active metal loading by XRF. The activity of catalysts was evaluated by minimum oxygen removal reaction time determined from pressure-time profiles at studied operating temperature 340 oC and initial H2 pressure of 100 bar. GC analysis of obtained hydrocarbon mixtures was used for determination of dominant hydrocarbon n-pentadecane, n-hexadecane, n-heptadecane and n-octadecane composition. Both catalyst have proper activity for complete conversion of RO/RFA into marketable hydrocarbon mixture with high yield (76.1%-83.2%), calorific value (47.20-47.24 MJ/kg) and energy recovery (ER) (90.7%-99.1%) produced at residence time ~35-52 min. Ni65%/SiO2Al2O3 has higher activity, but Ni10%/SiO2-Al2O3-135I deliver elevated yield of hydrocarbons. Both catalysts with different selectivity have a potential for practical application in hydrotreated vegetable oil production processes.