Even carbon number paraffin composition and method of manufacturing same

Abstract

Paraffin compositions including mainly even carbon number paraffins, and a method for manufacturing the same, is disclosed herein. In one embodiment, the method involves contacting naturally occurring fatty acid/glycerides with hydrogen in a slurry bubble column reactor containing bimetallic catalysts with equivalent particle diameters from about 10 to about 400 micron. The even carbon number compositions are particularly useful as phase change material.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A composition comprising C 12 -C 18  paraffins, wherein:
 the paraffins are produced from a renewable biological feedstock by a process comprising hydrogenation and hydrogenolysis; and   the paraffins are predominately even carbon number paraffins.   
     
     
         2 . The composition of  claim 1 , wherein the even carbon number paraffins comprise n-hexadecane and n-octadecane. 
     
     
         3 . The composition of  claim 1 , wherein the even carbon number paraffins comprise n-dodecane and n-tetradecane. 
     
     
         4 . The composition of  claim 1 , wherein at least 75 wt % of the paraffins are even carbon number paraffins. 
     
     
         5 . The composition of  claim 1 , wherein at least 80 wt % of the paraffins are even carbon number paraffins. 
     
     
         6 . The composition of  claim 1 , wherein the renewable biological feedstock is selected from the group consisting of vegetable oils, plant oils, algal oils, animal fats, tall oil fatty acid, products of the food industry, and a combination of any two or more thereof. 
     
     
         7 . The composition of  claim 1 , wherein the renewable biological feedstock is selected from the groups consisting of soybean oil, corn oil, cottonseed oil, canola oil, coconut oil, sunflower oil, palm oil, palm kernel oil, rapeseed oil, and a combination of any two or more thereof. 
     
     
         8 . The composition of  claim 1 , wherein the renewable biological feedstock is selected from the group consisting of soybean oil, canola oil, palm oil, palm kernel oil, rapeseed oil, and a combination of any two or more thereof. 
     
     
         9 . The composition of  claim 1 , wherein the renewable biological feedstock comprises palm oil. 
     
     
         10 . A diesel fuel comprising the composition of  claim 1 . 
     
     
         11 . A diesel fuel comprising the composition of  claim 2 . 
     
     
         12 . A diesel fuel comprising the composition of  claim 3 . 
     
     
         13 . A diesel fuel comprising the composition of  claim 4 . 
     
     
         14 . A diesel fuel comprising the composition of  claim 5 . 
     
     
         15 . A diesel fuel comprising the composition of  claim 6 . 
     
     
         16 . A diesel fuel comprising the composition of  claim 7 . 
     
     
         17 . A diesel fuel comprising the composition of  claim 8 . 
     
     
         18 . A diesel fuel comprising the composition of  claim 9 .