A cleaner process for hydrocracking of jatropha oil into green diesel

Abstract To achieve cleaner processing, Ni-HPW/Al 2 O 3 was synthesized as a new green catalyst for producing biodiesel, and jatropha oil was transformed into hydrocarbons (primarily n -C 15 to n -C 18 alkanes) using the new catalyst. A 99.85% jatropha oil conversion rate and 85.52% selectivity of the n -C 15 to n -C 18 fractions were obtained at a temperature of 360 °C, a pressure of 3.3 MPa, a H 2 /oil volume ratio of 600 (N m 3 )/m 3 , and a liquid hourly space velocity of 1.0 h −1 . It was also observed that higher reaction temperatures clearly favored oxygen removal from the hydrocracking products. During hydrocracking, the new catalyst was efficient and avoided H 2 S pollution; it therefore has potential for use in the biodiesel industry.