The Impact of Fatty Acid Composition on Transportation Fuel Yields via the Non-Catalytic Cracking of Triacylglyceride Oils

A wide spectrum of triacylglyceride (TG) oils were decomposed in batch lab and continuous pilot-scale reactors to generate an extensive database, which was then used to construct a model to predict the detailed composition of products generated during non-catalytic cracking. The model was then coupled with additional simulated process steps to determine the yields of transportation products and other chemical co-products meeting specifications of their petroleum analogs as validated with laboratory testing. A statistical study was then performed to use the model to analyze the impact that changes in TG oil composition have upon target product yields. In this study, the model was used to simulate a viable suite of products for every TG oil analyzed. The model predicts minor differences in the ratio of products from various different fatty acid compositions. For example, it was found that stearic (C18:0), oleic (C18:1), and erucic (C22:1) acids show a positive effect on fuel yields. By contrast, palmitic (C16:0), linoleic (C18:2), and linolenic (C18:3) acids have negative impacts on fuel yields. From these results, a hypothetical “ideal” TG oil was constructed. This oil turns out to have a composition that is very close to the composition of high oleic sunflower oil.