Saponified, palm, olive, rapeseed and castor oils were pyrolysed (at 750 ◦C for 20 s) by pyrolysis gas
chromatography with mass selective and flame ionisation detection (Py-GC/MSD and FID) to clarify their
thermochemical behaviours. The liquefiable compounds recovered from palm, olive and rapeseed oils
mainly contained linear alkenes (up to C19) and alkanes (up to C17), both similar to those found in gasoline
(C4–C10) and diesel fuel (C11–C22) boiling range fractions of petroleum, whereas in the case of castor oil
a significant amount of undesired oxygen-containing products (e.g., ketones and phenols) were formed.
The obtained data on reaction mechanisms can also be utilised in applications where various biofuels are
produced, for example, from the extractive-derived by-product (tall oil) of kraft pulping.