Production of aromatic green gasoline additives via catalytic pyrolysis of acidulated peanut oil soap stock

Catalytic pyrolysis was used to generate gasoline-compatible fuel from peanut oil soap stock (PSS), a high free fatty acid feedstock, using a fixed-bed reactor at temperatures between 450 and 550 °C with a zeolite catalyst (HZSM-5). PSS fed at 81 g h−1 along with 100 mL min−1 inert gas was passed across a 15 g catalyst bed (WHSV = 5.4 h−1, gas phase residence time = 34 s). Results indicate that fuel properties of PSS including viscosity, heating value, and O:C ratio were improved significantly. For PSS processed at 500 °C, viscosity was reduced from 59.6 to 0.9 mm2 s−1, heating value was increased from 35.8 to 39.3 MJ L−1, and the O:C ratio was reduced from 0.07 to 0.02. Aromatic gasoline components (e.g., BTEX), were formed in concentrations as high as 94% (v/v) in catalytically-cracked PSS with yields ranging from 22% to 35% (v/v of PSS feed).