State of the art of vegetable oil transformation into biofuels using catalytic cracking technology: Recent trends and future perspectives

• Compositions, elements, and typical properties of vegetable oils has been reviewed. • Mechanism of main fatty acids in catalytic cracking of vegetable oil have been reported and discussed. • Typical products properties and common products issues have been investigated. • Catalyst characterizations for various catalysts have been summarized and evaluated. Bioenergy generated from vegetable oils is an interesting alternative energy source to fossil fuel in terms of reducing carbon footprint and realizing circular economy. Among many routes in transforming vegetable oils into biofuels, the catalytic cracking route is a promising method due to its capability to process a wide variety of feedstocks and its ability to produce a wide range of fuels. This paper aims to give a comprehensive overview of the state-of-the-art catalytic cracking technology in vegetable oils upgrading and provide a solid foundation to design a high-quality biofuel production system. This review covers the physical and chemical properties of various types of vegetable oils, the recent development of catalytic cracking mechanism of vegetable oils, especially the reaction pathways of the primary fatty acid constituents in most of the vegetable oils, the associated catalyst characteristics and the properties of the final products. Lastly, catalytic cracking of vegetable oils using the conventional fluidized catalytic cracking unit has also included.