Patent ID: 8487149

Claim:
A process for preparing renewable hydrocarbons comprising: (a) culturing a microorganism capable of producing one or more C 2 -C 6 alcohols in a fermentor, thereby forming a fermentation broth comprising microorganisms and one or more C 2 -C 6 alcohols; (b) removing a portion of the fermentation broth from the fermentor; (c) distilling the portion, thereby forming an alcohol-depleted liquid phase and an alcohol-enriched vapor phase comprising water and one or more C 2 -C 6 alcohols; (d) condensing the alcohol-enriched vapor phase formed in step (c), thereby forming an alcohol-rich liquid phase and a water-rich liquid phase; and (e) separating the alcohol-rich phase liquid from the water-rich liquid phase using a liquid-liquid separator; (f) dehydrating at least a portion of the one or more C 2 -C 6 alcohols in the alcohol-rich phase of step (e), thereby forming a product comprising one or more C 2 -C 6 olefins; (g) isolating the one or more C 2 -C 6 olefins; (h) oligomerizing at least a portion of the one or more C 2 -C 6 olefins isolated in step (g), thereby forming a product comprising one or more C 6 -C 24 unsaturated oligomers; and (i) hydrogenating at least a portion of the product of step (h) in the presence of hydrogen, thereby forming a product comprising one or more C 6 -C 24 saturated alkanes; whereby the product of step (i) itself meets the requirements of at least one of ASTM D4814, ASTM D975, ASTM D910, or ASTM D1655, or a blend of at least 10% of the product of step (f) with a mixture of hydrocarbons meets the requirements of at least one of ASTM D4814, ASTM D975, ASTM D910 or ASTM D1655; and wherein said steps (b)-(e) are conducted simultaneously with step (a).