Effective and sustainable LCO upgrading using distillation and co-hydroprocessing with waste cooking oil

The technology of distillation and the technology of co-hydroprocessing with liquid biomass are combined for a more effective and sustainable LCO upgrading. The first technology is to separate the LCO hydrocarbons via distillation to obtain the fraction with boiling point up to 350 degrees C, rendering a light LCO fraction (LCO_cut). The second technology involves the integration of the LCO_cut with Waste Cooking Oil (WCO) towards a joined hydrotreatment step. The choice of the two aforementioned technologies is based on the claim that the distillation will exempt LCO from refractory properties and the co-hydroprocessing with WCO will led to a paraffinic product that could approach diesel fuel quality. The results show that concerning sulfur content, an improvement presented in the case of LCO_cut/ WCO product in comparison with the corresponding ones of LCO/ WCO. Moreover, the LCO_cut/ WCO product of the intermediate temperature presented the optimal aromatic content, density and cetane number in comparison with the corresponding ones of LCO/ WCO. In summary, the two degraded feedstocks; LCO and WCO, are converted to improved products, indicating the potential of integrating these feedstocks within a refinery.