Hydrocarbon fuels from vegetable oils via hydrolysis and thermo-catalytic decarboxylation

Conversion of canola oil to normal alkane hydrocarbons was investigated using sequential reactions: continuous thermal hydrolysis and fed-batch thermo-catalytic decarboxylation. The free fatty acid (FFA) intermediate product from hydrolysis was quantified using GC-FID, which showed 99.7% conversion and the following components: palmitic, oleic, linoleic, linolenic, stearic, arachidic and behenic acids. The FFA was saturated then decarboxylated at an average rate of 15.5 mmoles/min using a 5% Pd/C catalyst at 300°C. Approximately 90% decarboxylation conversion to n-alkanes was achieved within 5 h of the reaction. The resulting mixture of n-alkanes can be readily converted into renewable diesel using isomerization to improve the cold flow properties of the fuel.