Patent attributes
Provided are processes for making one or more unsaturated oligomeric acids and one or more saturated hydrocarbons. In one form, a process for making one or more saturated hydrocarbons includes oligomerizing one or more unsaturated carboxylic acids having from 4 to 38 carbon atoms in the presence of a molecular sieve catalyst to form one or more unsaturated oligomeric acids including less than 90% by weight of cyclic oligomers, and hydrogenating the one or more unsaturated oligomeric acids via contact with hydrogen in the presence of a hydrogenation catalyst to form one or more saturated hydrocarbons. The oligomerizing of unsaturated fatty acids is from renewable biological sources to form dimer acids. The one or more saturated hydrocarbons are useful as lubricant base oils.
