Diesel-like hydrocarbons obtained by direct hydrodeoxygenation of sunflower oil over Pd/Al-SBA-15 catalysts

Hydrodeoxygenation of sunflower oil was performed in an autoclave over 5.0 wt.% Pd/Al-SBA-15 (Si/Al molar ratios from 22 to 300) and Pd/HZSM-5(22). The effects of acidity of the catalysts and the reaction temperatures on the activity of the catalysts were investigated. Pd/Al-SBA-15(Si/Al = 300) showed a high activity as 74.4% liquid yield and 72.9% C15–C18 diesel-like hydrocarbons yield at 250 °C. At 300 °C, the higher activity over Pd/Al-SBA-15(Si/Al = 50, 100 and 300) catalysts compared with that over Pd/Al-SBA-15(22) and Pd/HZSM-5(22) indicated that strong acidity of the catalysts was not favorable for converting sunflower oil into C15–C18 diesel-like hydrocarbons at a high temperature.