Production of BHD (Bio Hydrofined Diesel) with Improved Cold Flow ...

consistency similar to diesel oil. FAME is mixed with diesel and used to fuel diesel vehicles, mainly
in Europe. But due to its poor oxidative stability, FAME can only be mixed with diesel in limited
quantities; what are needed are biomass fuels with properties superior to FAME.
We previously managed to obtain BHD (Bio Hydrofined Diesel), a hydrocarbon very similar to
conventional diesel oil, by hydrogenating palm oil. BHD has superior oxidation stability compared to
FAME. However, poor cold flow properties were still an issue. The production of BHD from palm
oil will be described in the second section. In this study, we isomerized BHD to improve its cold flow
properties. Details of these examinations will be presented in the third section.
2. PRODUCTION OF BHD FROM PALM OIL
2.1 Hydrogenation conditions
The feed oil was pretreated (decolorized, degummed, etc.), purified palm oil. The properties of
the feed oil are shown in Table 1. Reaction temperature: 240–360°C; reaction pressure: 3-10 MPa;
LHSV: 0.5 h -1 . A hydrodesulfurization catalyst common in petroleum refining was used.
Table 1
Properties of the Feed Oil
Purified Palm Oil
Density g/cm3 0.9159
Higher Calorific Value MJ/kg 39.5
Carbon mass% 77.0
Hydrogen mass% 11.5
Oxygen mass% 11.4
Nitrogen mass%