Kinetics for the highly selective hybrid and cleaner diesel production by hydro-co-processing of a <i>Jatropha curcas</i> L. oil and gas oil blend using a supported Ni-W/Al-SBA-15 sulfided catalyst

This work reports the kinetics for the hydro-co-processing of a <i>Jatropha curcas</i> L. oil and gas oil mixture using a sulfided NiO(5.5%)-WO₃(25%)/Al(0.05)-SBA-15 catalyst at 360–420°C, 6 MPa of initial H₂ pressure, and 4 h of reaction time. It was found that more than 47% of a diesel-like fraction could be obtained due to the HDO of the vegetable oil, and the HDS and HCK of the sulfured and heavier compounds in the gas oil within the mixture. HDO was the most favored reaction, followed by HDS and HCK due to HDO rates were two times higher than those for HDS, demonstrating that oxygen removal was influenced by H₂S production during HDS. Accordingly, 96% of the oxygen compounds and 24% of the sulfured compounds were removed during hydro-co-processing. Finally, the intrinsic properties (acidity and metallic character) influenced HCK reactions due to 52.9% of the heavier fraction in the reaction mixture was readily hydroconverted into lighter hydrocarbons. Hence, lighter, cleaner and hybrid fuels can be obtained by hydro-co-processing technologies with the sulfided NiO(5.5%)-WO₃(25%)/Al(0.05)-SBA-15 catalyst at reaction temperatures below 400°C to avoid thermal cracking.