Issue 14, 2024

Production of drop-in biodiesel blendstocks via competitive acid-catalyzed dehydration reactions using ethanol oligomerization products

Abstract

Ethanol can be converted into diesel fuel ethers using a three-step catalytic approach that involves ethanol oligomerization to larger alcohols, hydrogenolysis of the esters followed by dehydration of the C4 to C8 alcohols into ethers. In this paper we report results for the dehydration of a mixture of C4–C8 alcohols using a zeolite Y catalyst in a continuous flow reactor. Mono-molecular dehydration of the alcohols produces olefins while bi-molecular dehydration of the alcohol produces ethers. Increasing the pressure increases the ether selectivity while decreasing the pressure produces more olefins. Linear alcohol feeds produce more C8+ ethers, while branched and secondary alcohols lead to more olefins. Olefin and coke selectivities increase with increasing carbon chain length of alcohols. Secondary alcohols lead to higher coke selectivities. Ethanol/butanol oligomerization experiments showed that the incoming dehydration feedstock can be grown to larger C6+ alcohol fractions, leading to higher yields of C10+ diesel-range ethers.

Graphical abstract: Production of drop-in biodiesel blendstocks via competitive acid-catalyzed dehydration reactions using ethanol oligomerization products

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
14 mar 2024
Accepted
08 mai 2024
First published
09 mai 2024

Sustainable Energy Fuels, 2024,8, 3036-3047

Production of drop-in biodiesel blendstocks via competitive acid-catalyzed dehydration reactions using ethanol oligomerization products

E. Canales, S. C. Hower, D. P. Li, A. Tambe, D. Rothamer and G. W. Huber, Sustainable Energy Fuels, 2024, 8, 3036 DOI: 10.1039/D4SE00362D

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