ARTICLE IN PRESS JID: JTICE [m5G;December 8, 2016;13:38] Journal of the Taiwan Institute of Chemical Engineers 000 (2016) 1–14 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Journal of the Taiwan Institute of Chemical Engineers journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/jtice Gasoline-like hydrocarbons by catalytic cracking of soap phase residue of neutralization process of palm oil (Elaeis guineensis Jacq) M.C. Santos a,b , R.M. Lourenço a , D.H. de Abreu a,b , A.M. Pereira a,b , D.A.R. de Castro a,b , M.S. Pereira a,b,f , H.S. Almeida a,b , A.A. Mâncio a,b , D.E.L. Lhamas a,d , S.A.P. da Mota b,c , J.A. da Silva Souza a,b , S.D. Júnior e , M.E. Araújo a,b , L.E.P. Borges f , N.T. Machado a,b,∗ a Laboratory of Separation Processes and Applied Thermodynamic (TERM@), Faculty of Chemical Engineering-UFPA, Rua Augusto Corrêia N°. 1, CEP: 66075-900, CP. 8619 Belém, Pará, Brazil b Graduate Program of Natural Resource Engineering-UFPA, Rua Augusto Corrêia N°. 1, CEP: 66075-900, CP. 8619 Belém, Pará, Brazil c Faculty of Materials Engineering-UNIFESSPA, Quadra 17, Bloco 4, Lote Especial, Nova Marabá, CEP: 68505-080 Marabá, Pará, Brazil d Faculty of Mining and Chemical Engineering-UNIFESSPA, Quadra 17, Bloco 4, Lote Especial, Nova Marabá, CEP: 68505-080 Marabá, Pará, Brazil e Faculty of Chemical Engineering-UEAM, Avenida Darcy Vargas N°. 1200, CEP: 69050-020 Manaus, Amazonas, Brazil f Laboratory of Catalyst Preparation and Catalytic Cracking, Section of Chemical Engineering-IME, Praça General Tibúrcio N°. 80, CEP: 22290-270 Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil a r t i c l e i n f o Article history: Received 29 June 2016 Revised 26 October 2016 Accepted 10 November 2016 Available online xxx Keywords: Catalytic cracking Soap phase residue Neutralization of palm oil Distillation, Gasoline a b s t r a c t In this work, the soap phase residue of neutralization process of palm oil (Elaeis guineensis Jacq) submit- ted to catalytic cracking to produce gasoline-like hydrocarbons fuels. The cracking reaction carried out in a stirred tank reactor of 143 L, operating in batch mode at 440 °C and 1.0 atmosphere, using 15% (wt.) Na 2 CO 3 as catalyst. The organic liquid products (OLP) yield 71.34% (wt.) with an acid value of 1.07 mg KOH/g and kinematic viscosity of 1.90 mm 2 s −1 , matching sulfur content, copper strip corrosion, flash point, viscosity and density of ANP (Brazilian Petroleum Agency) N° 65 for diesel S10. The distillation of OLP carried out in laboratory scale according to the boiling temperature range of fossil fuels, yielding 6.69% (wt.) gasoline, 12.77% (wt.) kerosene, 15.52% (wt.) light diesel, and 38.02% heavy diesel-like hydro- carbons fuels, showing that Na 2 CO 3 was more selective to convert salts of carboxylic acids into diesel-like hydrocarbons fuels. The GC–MS analysis showed that OLP is composed by 91.59% (wt.) hydrocarbons and 8.41% (wt.) oxygenates. The gasoline-like hydrocarbons fraction composed by 100% hydrocarbons with an acid value of 1.69 mg KOH/g and kinematic viscosity of 0.83 mm 2 s −1 , matches many physicochemical parameters of ANP N° 40 for gasoline A, proving the technical feasibility of catalytic cracking process. © 2016 Taiwan Institute of Chemical Engineers. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction During the refining (chemical and physical) process of veg- etable oils, a complex mixture of mono-, di-, and triglycerides and minor fat-soluble compounds (carotenes, tocopherols, squa- lene, sterols, fatty alcohols, waxes, etc.), the minor compounds are removed [1–4]. The removal of fat-soluble compounds from veg- etable oils to produce refined edible oils is necessary, as most of these compounds may be detrimental to the flavor, oxidative sta- bility, and physical appearance of refined oil [1–4]. Thus, signifi- cant amounts of salts of carboxylic acids (soap) [5–9], fatty acid deodorizer distillates [10–12], and acid process water are gener- ated as by-products of vegetable oils refining process [6,13]. Among ∗ Corresponding author at: Fax: 0055-9132017291. E-mail addresses: marceloenqui@bol.com.br, machado@ufpa.br (N.T. Machado). these by-products, the soap phase residue of the neutralization process, a complex mixture consisting of salts of carboxylic acids, non-reacted palm oil, neutralized oil, and water [5–9], and fatty acid deodorizer distillates are rich renewable sources of fat ma- terials [10–12]. Fatty acids deodorizer distillates and soap stock are the major by-products from vegetable oil refining, and both have little commercial value, been sold at a fraction of the oil cost [10]. Biodiesel industry is another source for obtaining soap phase residue, since the traditional transesterification process requires the removal of carboxylic acids, as well as compounds present in minor concentrations [4,10,14,15]. By considering that global production of oilseeds, oils & fats, and biodiesel for the 2014/2015, crop years reached 520.0, 202.0, and 28.9 million metric tons, respectively [16], as well as the fact that soap stock accounts for 5 to 10% (wt.) of crude vegetable oil mass after chemical refining processes [6], large amounts of soap stocks are generated yearly [17]. Estimates of process-streams http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jtice.2016.11.016 1876-1070/© 2016 Taiwan Institute of Chemical Engineers. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. Please cite this article as: M.C. Santos et al., Gasoline-like hydrocarbons by catalytic cracking of soap phase residue of neutralization process of palm oil (Elaeis guineensis Jacq), Journal of the Taiwan Institute of Chemical Engineers (2016), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jtice.2016.11.016