Patent ID: 8523959

Claim:
A method comprising the steps of: (a) providing a biofuel precursor material, wherein the biofuel precursor material comprises triglycerides; (b) partially-hydrodeoxygenating triglycerides in the biofuel precursor material to yield a biofuel intermediate comprising linear hydrocarbon species and residual oxygenates; and (c) catalytically-isomerizing at least a portion of the biofuel intermediate using an isomerization catalyst to yield a biofuel comprising isoparaffins and residual oxygenates; wherein the steps of partially-hydrodeoxygenating and catalytically isomerizing are carried out sequentially, and wherein the above steps are carried out such that the resulting biofuel comprises paraffins in an amount greater than or equal to 90 wt %; isoparaffins in an amount greater than or equal to 50% of the paraffins; and oxygen, in the form of residual oxygenates, in an amount greater than or equal to 0.001 wt % on a water and air free basis; and wherein the resulting biofuel has a difference in the ASTM D86 90 and 10 percent points of 300° F. or less.