Preliminary chemical process for hydrotreating triolein on a pilot scale using airgel catalyst based on NiMo carbides

One of the challenges of modern society is producing renewable and economically competitive fuels, reducing carbon emissions and dependence on fossil sources such as oil. In this scenario, the hydrotreatment of vegetable oils has been studied using a wide variety of catalysts and chemical processes, and is also capable of producing other green fuels such as naphtha, propane and aviation kerosene. The present work proposes a preliminary chemical process for the hydrotreatment of triacylglycerides using the airgel catalyst based on nickel and molybdenum carbides supported on alumina, using data reported in previous literature (PIMENTA, 2020). The chemical process simulation was conducted using the Aspen Plus software , version 14, on a pilot production scale with triolein as the only liquid phase reagent fed into the system, considering a hydrogen/triolein ratio of 0.037975 and a triolein feed of 1000 kg. /day. Separation steps were proposed with the main objective of producing and separating hydrocarbons into specific ranges and maintaining low amounts of unwanted components (acylglycerides and unreacted fatty acids). A production capacity of 743.05 kg/day of hydrocarbons in the diesel range was observed, followed by 44.72 kg/day of naphtha and 11.72 kg/day of light hydrocarbons (propane), in addition to other streams of exit. Process optimization, energy integration and economic viability were not evaluated in this work.