Toward Diesel Production from Karanja Oil Hydrotreating over CoMo and NiMo Catalysts

Hydrotreated vegetable oil (HVO) or green diesel can be considered as a promising second-generation biofuel. Non-edible karanja oil (Pongamia pinnata) represents a candidate feedstock for HVO production. In the present work, karanja oil was hydrotreated at high temperatures (573-653 K) and high pressures (1.5-3.5 MPa) over sulfided CoMo and NiMo catalysts supported on Al2O3 in a fixed-bed reactor. A paraffin mixture (mainly C-15-C-18 n-paraffins) was produced from karanja oil, which is consistent with the effectiveness of Co/Ni and Mo for the hydroprocessing reactions. Smaller hydrocarbons (