Production of bioparaffins by the catalytic hydrogenation of natural triglycerides

Abstract The production possibilities of gas oil boiling-range mixtures of paraffins were investigated over different catalysts as a function of the process parameters using different natural triglycerides. Under favorable operational parameters (T: 360–380 °C; p: 60–80 bar; liquid hourly space velocity (LHSV): 1.0–2.0 cm 3 of feedstock/(h∙cm 3 of catalyst)), the yield of paraffin mixtures increased in the order NiW/Al 2 O 3 2 O 3 2 O 3 . In the best cases, the yields of paraffins reached 75–85% of the theoretical values. These compounds are excellent, environmentally sound fuels for diesel engines (cetane number: 89–92) and could be used either as pure fuels or as blending components.