Thermochemical applications for fats and oils

Abstract

Fats and oils axe well established in food, surfactant and coatings applications. Historically, fats and oils were employed to provide lighting and warmth. Increasing production of fats and oils and in-cre~dn~ uncertainties regarding the reliability of petroleum resources make k desirable to reconsider thermochemical applications of fats and oils. Difficulties associated wkh the use of fats and oils for vehicular applications are discussed, and use in stationary diesel engines is suggested.Conventional kerosene space heaters axe designed to make use of the vaporization behavior of this fuel. Changes in heater design arc required to take into account the pyrolytic degradation of the fuel when fats and oils are used, and a traveling grate burner was designed for this purpose.Pyrolysis of fatty acids at temperatures exceeding 500 C yields a mixture of gaseous and liquid products. The gaseous products indude ethylene, but little propylene. The liquid product is primarily a mixture of substituted styrenes.Further development is needed for these thermochemical applications of fats and oils. Fuel and olefin markets present valuable cushions to keep the price of fats and oils from fluctuating as during the early 1980's, when soybean oil has varied from $0.15 per pound m $0.40 per pound. The triglycerides can provide a future source of feedstocks for petrochemicals, if petroleum prices and availabilities change dramatically. Most of the development work needed consists of down-to-earth large-scale experiments in semi-commercial or commercial equipment to determine the best methods of fuel storage, feeding and conditions for combustion and steam cracking.

Thermal Cracking of Canola Oil: Reaction Products in the Presence and Absence of Steam

“…Also, oil conversion and type of products obtained over these catalysts were attributed mostly to the acidity and shape selectivity of the catalysts used. ,,,, For example, it has been shown 8,9,12,13 that the higher the acidity (especially the Brønsted acidity) of the catalyst, the greater the feed conversion. Also, the formation of aromatic hydrocarbons was ascribed specifically to the presence of high-strength Brønsted acid sites on the catalysts. ,,,, These results are in contrast to those of Chang and Wan, Egloff and Morrel, Egloff and Nelson, Lipinsky et al, Schwab et al, and Crossley et al., as well as studies using silicalite catalyst by Katikaneni et al …”

“…Studies involving the thermal cracking of plant oils and animal fats have been reported in the literature. − In most of these studies, the major objective was to provide an alternative source for conventional fuels and chemicals. Their results showed that products of industrial importance such as aromatic and aliphatic hydrocarbons as well as C 2 −C 4 olefins and a diesel-like fuel were produced.…”

Production of hydrocarbons by pyrolysis of methyl esters from rapeseed oil

“…A great deal of research was done on the energy upgrading of vegetable oils or their derivatives between 1920 and 1950, then again during the oil crises in 1973 and 1978, so as to minimize oil imports, especially in tropical countries (South America) or in developing countries. Several authors studied the pyrolysis of vegetable and animal oils (1)(2)(3)(4)(5)(6)(7)(8)(9)(10)(11)(12) and the pyrolysis of natural fatty acids (13)(14)(15)(16)(17). In each case, they obtained a mixture of hydrocarbons with a composition close to that of petroleum derivatives.…”

“…Mainly based on the research by Nawar (23) and Moulton et al (21) oil pyrolysis, in the presence of nitrogen, of methyl oleate and methyl palmitate, and on recent research on decomposition of vegetable oils (12) or fatty acids at high temperature (16,17), we undertook a study of the pyrolysis of a mixture of m~hyl esters issuing from rapeseed oil, called methyl colzate (Table 1). This was a mixture of eight saturated and unsaturated methyl esters, in which the majority ester was methyl oleate (Cl8:l).…”