Methods of refining natural oils, and methods of producing fuel compositions

• Main Authors: FIRTH BRUCE E, KIRK SHARON E
• Format: Patent
• Language: English
• Published: 27.10.2015
• Subjects: ACYCLIC OR CARBOCYCLIC COMPOUNDS; ADDING MATERIALS TO FUELS OR FIRES TO REDUCE SMOKE ORUNDESIRABLE DEPOSITS OR TO FACILITATE SOOT REMOVAL; ANIMAL AND VEGETABLE OILS, FATS, FATTY SUBSTANCES AND WAXES; CANDLES; CHEMISTRY; CRACKING HYDROCARBON OILS; DETERGENTS; ESSENTIAL OILS; FATTY ACIDS THEREFROM; FIRELIGHTERS; FUELS; FUELS NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR; LIQUEFIED PETROLEUM GAS; LUBRICANTS; METALLURGY; MINERAL WAXES; NATURAL GAS; ORGANIC CHEMISTRY; PEAT; PERFUMES; PETROLEUM, GAS OR COKE INDUSTRIES; PRODUCING (PRESSING, EXTRACTION), REFINING AND PRESERVINGFATS, FATTY SUBSTANCES (e.g. LANOLIN), FATTY OILS AND WAXES,INCLUDING EXTRACTION FROM WASTE MATERIALS; PRODUCTION OF LIQUID HYDROCARBON MIXTURES, e.g. BY DESTRUCTIVEHYDROGENATION, OLIGOMERISATION, POLYMERISATION; RECOVERY OF HYDROCARBON OILS FROM OIL-SHALE, OIL-SAND, ORGASES; REFINING MIXTURES MAINLY CONSISTING OF HYDROCARBONS; REFORMING OF NAPHTHA; SYNTHETIC NATURAL GAS OBTAINED BY PROCESSES NOT COVERED BYSUBCLASSES C10G, C10K; TECHNICAL GASES CONTAINING CARBON MONOXIDE

A method of refining a natural oil includes: (a) providing a feedstock that includes a natural oil; (b) reacting the feedstock in the presence of a metathesis catalyst to form a metathesized product that includes olefins and esters; (c) passivating residual metathesis catalyst with an agent that comprises nitric acid; (d) separating the olefins in the metathesized product from the esters in the metathesized product; and (e) transesterifying the esters in the presence of an alcohol to form a transesterified product and/or hydrogenating the olefins to form a fully or partially saturated hydrogenated product. Methods for suppressing isomerization of olefin metathesis products produced in a metathesis reaction, and methods of producing fuel compositions are described.