Issue 11, 2023

Highly selective production of bio-jet fuel grade alkanes over an Fe/SiO2–Al2O3 solid acid catalyst under solvent-free conditions

Abstract

Fatty acid-based biomass is one of the most abundant organic carbon sources and has acquired significant attention as a renewable feedstock for producing renewable bio-jet fuel via hydrocatalytic processes. The hydrocatalytic process usually occurs at high hydrogen pressure, temperature, and noble metal catalyst loading. This work focuses on solvent-free bio-jet fuel generation (C8 to C15) from the model substrate methyl oleate as well as various oils feedstocks (linseed, rapeseed, neem, and tung oils) using Fe-loaded SiO2–Al2O3 as a solid acid catalyst. The acidic sites provided by the Fe metal and SiO2–Al2O3 support reveal that the catalyst is suitable for low-pressure hydrocracking of methyl oleate into bio-jet fuel with excellent selectivity (>74%) and complete conversion at 380 °C, 5 bar H2 pressure with 10% iron loading in five hours. As determined by NMR, GC, and HRMS techniques, the hydrocatalytic reaction proceeded through three simultaneous plausible pathways: hydrodeoxygenation, decarboxylation, and decarbonylation. The present study has great significance for developing aviation fuel under relatively mild reaction conditions, i.e., low H2 pressure and high reusability (up to 10 test cycles), using the earth-abundant Fe/SiO2–Al2O3 catalyst.

Graphical abstract: Highly selective production of bio-jet fuel grade alkanes over an Fe/SiO2–Al2O3 solid acid catalyst under solvent-free conditions

  • This article is part of the themed collection: Biorefining

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
04 Feb 2023
Accepted
05 Apr 2023
First published
05 Apr 2023

Sustainable Energy Fuels, 2023,7, 2568-2581

Highly selective production of bio-jet fuel grade alkanes over an Fe/SiO2–Al2O3 solid acid catalyst under solvent-free conditions

B. Saini, M. Yadav, S. K. Jha, R. Krishnapriya, P. Kang, V. Kant, R. Singhal and R. K. Sharma, Sustainable Energy Fuels, 2023, 7, 2568 DOI: 10.1039/D3SE00144J

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