JojobaOil:a PotentialSourceof LongChainFattyAlcohols TheHague, October1995

Jojoba (Simmondsia chinensis Link Schneider) seed oil offers a potential environment friendly and renewable source for replacing some of the constituents of petroleum which are used for non-energy applications. Jojoba oil is a rich source of long chain fatty acids (C2o- Cll) and alcohols (C20- Cu) from where these can be obtained in reasonably pure form For obtaining long chain saturated and unsaturated fatty alcohols, catalytic hydrogenolysis of jojoba oil has been studied using two copper chromite (2-10%) and two zinc chromite (5-50%) based catalysts under varying reaction parameters like temperature, 200-325°C; pressure, 1,600-2,000 psig and 3 - 6 h reaction time. Under the optimized conditions a conversion of the order of 91. 8-96.7 and 72.2% is observed with copper chromite and zinc chromite catalysts with a selectivity of98.5 and 61% respectively. Eicosenol and docosenol of98 and 80% purity respectively have been obtained by fractional distillation of catalytically hydrogenolysed product