| abstract |
This invention relates to a process for the deoxygenation of tall oil pitch to aliphatic and aromatic hydrocarbons. The invention even includes the conversion of aliphatics to polymerizable olefins by steam cracking, and the conversion of aromatics to polymerizable terephthalic acid by oxygenation and rearrangement if necessary. This monomer can be used to prepare partially or fully biosourced polymers. According to the invention, tall oil pitch is first heated to convert it to a liquid, which is then fed to a catalyst bed and catalytically deoxygenated with hydrogen. The deoxygenation catalyst is preferably a NiMo catalyst, and in addition, a cracking catalyst such as an acidic zeolite catalyst may be used. The deoxygenated product stream is cooled down to obtain a liquid which is distilled to separate aliphatic and aromatic hydrocarbons for the preparation of the corresponding monomers and final polymer. |