Value added hydrocarbons from distilled tall oil via hydrotreating over a commercial NiMo catalyst

The activity of a commercial NiMo hydrotreating catalyst was investigated to convert distilled tall oil (DTO), a byproduct of the pulp and paper industry, into feedstocks for the production of base chemicals with reduced oxygen content. The experiments were conducted in a fixed bed continuous flow reactor covering a wide temperature range (325–450 °C). Hydrotreating of DTO resulted in the formation of a hydrocarbon fraction consisting of up to ∼50 wt % nC₁₇+C₁₈ paraffins. Comprehensive 2D GC and GC–MS analysis shows that the resin acids in DTO are converted at temperatures above 400 °C to cycloalkanes and aromatics. However, at these temperatures the yield of nC₁₇+C₁₈ hydrocarbons irrespective of space time is drastically reduced because of cracking reactions that produce aromatics. The commercial NiMo catalyst was not deactivated during extended on-stream tests of more than 30 h. Modeling the steam cracking of the highly paraffinic liquid obtained during hydrotreatment of DTO at different process conditions indicates high ethylene yields (>32 wt %).