Hydroisomerization of n-hexadecane using Pt/alumina-Beta zeolite catalysts for producing renewable diesel with low pour point

- Pt/Alumina-Beta (Si/Al = 150) was evaluated on n-C16 hydroisomerization.
- Product distribution is independent of the zeolite content.
- A relation between the first order kinetic constant and total acidity was found.
- These catalysts showed performance comparable with shape selective zeolites.
- Pour point correlates with primary and secondary carbon contents of the products.

The performance of bifunctional Pt/Alumina-Beta zeolite catalysts for the hydroisomerization (HDI) of n-C16 was studied by varying the zeolite content in the support. A relationship between overall activity and support acidity was observed, indicating that the skeletal isomerization over zeolite acid sites is the rate-determining step. Isomerization and cracking products distributions are independent of the zeolite content in the support for the entire range of n-C16 conversion. The catalysts of the present study are more selective than those previously reported in the literature with Beta zeolite, which is probably associated to the use of a high Si/Al zeolite. Finally, it was observed that the pour point of the hydroisomerized products decreases with the overall conversion and correlates with the primary and secondary carbon contents of the products.

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