A formulation for solidifying used cooking oil or grease and methods of making and using the same is disclosed. The formulation comprises hydrogenated castor oil, sometimes having a flake morphology. In some embodiments, the formulation has a melting point of between 70 and 80° C. and a density between 0.7 and 1.0 g/L. In some embodiments, the formulation is created by heating castor oil in the presence of a catalyst until at least some of the ricinoleic acid content in the castor oil is reduced to form hydrogenated castor oil in a reaction mixture. The method of using the formulation comprises the steps of mixing the formulation and used cooking oil or grease at an elevated temperature until the formulation completely dissolves into the used cooking oil to form a formulation mixture, and waiting until the formulation mixture cools and solidifies prior to disposal.

The present invention relates to a process for the hydrogenation of an unsaturated hydrocarbon feedstock comprising: (1) preparing a granular material, wherein the particles of the granular material comprise a hydrogenation catalyst, or a precursor thereof, and one or more organic compounds, wherein the one or more organic compounds comprise one or more carboxlic acid and/or one or more ester and/or one or more ether moieties; (2) providing an unsaturated hydrocarbon feedstock; (3) preparing a mixture comprising the granular material obtained in (1), the unsaturated hydrocarbon feedstock provided in (2), hydrogen gas, and optionally a solvent system; (4) heating the mixture prepared in (3) to a temperature in the range of from 210 to 360° C. for hydrogenating the hydrocarbon feedstock.

A method for producing renewable diesel includes introducing a primary feedstock comprising biologically-derived triglycerides with catalyst poisons into a first reaction chamber and hydrolyzing the primary feedstock within the first reaction and liquid-liquid extraction chamber for at least an hour such that the reacted triglycerides are separated into an aqueous solution comprising glycerol and catalyst poisons, and an intermediate feedstock comprising free fatty acids and catalyst poisons. The method also includes distilling the intermediate feedstock to separate the intermediate feedstock into a purified intermediate stream and a lower volume bottom stream containing unreacted triglyceride, diglyceride, monoglyceride, FFA and catalyst poisons. The method also includes combining the purified intermediate feedstock with a hydrogen stream and converting, in a second reaction chamber comprising a metallic catalyst bed, the purified intermediate feedstock into a product comprising long-chain alkanes. The method also includes hydrotreating the purified intermediate feedstock into a renewable diesel product.

A nano-catalyst which is usable in processes of vegetable oil hydrogenation for producing bio-lubricants or biodegradable plastics for producing copolymers, characterized in that it consists of an active phase composed of nickel, palladium and ruthenium, dispersed on a support including graphene layers less than 1 micron, the outer surface of which is covered with surfactant chains, and having a high activity and a very high selectivity for the cis-configuration of the 9-octadecenoic acid (cis-oleic acid).

Process for the catalytic hydrogenation of vegetable oils wherein the oil is placed in contact with molecular hydrogen in the presence of a metal catalyst, and the process is performed in the absence of water or in the presence of a quantity of water equal to or less than 5:1 with respect to the weight of the metal catalyst and at a temperature equal to or less than 50° C.

A system for processing a renewable bio-based material comprising: a reactor, a feedstock substantially renewable and comprising triglycerides and free fatty acids, with hydrogen in the presence of a catalyst in a reactor to form a treated oil; a heat exchanger for receiving the treated oil from the reactor and reducing its temperature to a predetermined temperature; a high-pressure separator followed by a low-pressure separator; and (i) a distillation unit for passing the treated oil through to form green diesel and an adsorption unit for passing the green diesel through; or (ii) at least one distillation column to separate the treated oil into at least one component and an adsorption column for passing the at least one component through; wherein the reactor comprises a cooling function for controlling the temperature of the reactor; wherein the cooling function is an internal cooling function comprising adding a cooling substance into the reactor.

A method is disclosed of purifying a recycled or renewable organic material, wherein the recycled or renewable organic material includes more than 1 ppm silicon as silicon compounds and/or more than 10 ppm phosphorous as phosphorous compounds. The method can include providing a feed of the lipid material; heat treating the organic material in presence of an adsorbent and the filtering organic material and hydrotreating the lipid material in a presence of a hydrotreating catalyst to obtain purified hydrotreated organic material having less than 20% organic material and/or less than 30% of the original phosphorous content of the organic material.

A method of obtaining paraffinic hydrocarbons from fat, by an exemplary method, whereby the method is performed in two stages, in a coupled flow-type system, under atmospheric pressure conditions, in the presence of heterogeneous catalysts, after their thermal activation, so that in Stage I the fat and/or waste fat is heated at a temperature range of 100-500° C., in the presence of an inert gas, in the presence of a catalyst in the form of a metal oxide on an oxide support or in the form of a mixture of at least two metal oxides on an oxide support. The product obtained in Stage I is treated, in the presence of an inert gas, at a temperature range of 100-500° C., in the presence of a metallic catalyst on an oxide support, with hydrogen gas or with a mixture of hydrogen and carbon monoxide, obtained in the selective decomposition of methanol.

A process for producing a composition having a ratio by weight of C.sub.10-C.sub.26 monobranched fatty acids or alkyl esters thereof to C.sub.10-C.sub.26 polybranched fatty acids or alkyl esters thereof of greater than 6 using a zeolite, preferably ferrierite, isomerization catalyst. The zeolite catalyst is preferably the only isomerization catalyst used. The zeolite catalyst can be reused many times after simple separation from the reaction products without having to be regenerated.

One or more techniques are disclosed for a process of preparing stearic acid from animal and/or plant sources may comprise: 1) deodorizing and distilling a fat; 2) concentrating fatty acids of the fat; and 3) hydrogenating the fatty acid to provide stearic acid. The process may include the use of co-products from plant and/or animal sources. The process may also include distilling the stearic acid to provide palmitic acid and/or fully hydrogenated fatty acid. Tallow fatty acid, vegetable fatty acid, stearic acid, and palmitic acid prepared from the process described are also disclosed.