Several Ni-based transition metal carbide catalysts supported on Al-SBA-15 were studied for the hydrothermal decarboxylation of oleic acid and soybean oil to produce diesel range hydrocarbons with no added H-2. The effect of pre-reduction, sub-critical, and super-critical water conditions on the catalyst activity and selectivity was investigated. Both the conversion of oleic acid and selectivity of decarboxylation products under super-critical conditions for each catalyst were about two times greater than at sub-critical conditions. In addition, the potential of these catalysts for utilizing aqueous phase reforming (APR) of glycerol for in situ H-2 production to meet process demands was demonstrated. The performance of the catalysts increases with the addition of glycerol, especially for the NiWC/Al-SBA-15 catalyst. With the addition of glycerol, the NiWC/Al-SBA-15 catalyst showed greater conversion of oleic acid and selectivity to heptadecane; however, most of the oleic acid was hydrogenated to produce stearic acid. The highest conversion of oleic acid and selectivity for heptadecane was 97.3% and 5.2%, respectively. Furthermore, the NiWC/Al-SBA-15 catalyst exhibited good potential for hydrolyzing triglycerides (soybean oil) to produce fatty acids and glycerol, and then generating H-2 in situ from the APR of the glycerol produced. A complete conversion of soybean oil and hydrogenation of produced oleic acid were obtained over the NiWC/Al-SBA-15 at super-critical conditions. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.