Synthesis of high density aviation fuel with cyclopentanol derived from lignocellulose

• DOI: 10.1038/srep09565
• Publication Date: 2015-03-31T15:24:37Z
• Authors: Xueru Sheng; Ning Li; Guangyi Li; Wentao Wang; Jinfan Yang; Yu Cong; Aiqin Wang; Xiaodong Wang; Tao Zhang
• Keywords: 13. Climate action; 7. Clean energy; 01 natural sciences; Article; 0104 chemical sciences

AbstractFor the first time, renewable high density aviation fuels were synthesized at high overall yield (95.6%) by the Guerbet reaction of cyclopentanol which can be derived from lignocellulose, followed by the hydrodeoxygenation (HDO). The solvent-free Guerbet reaction of cyclopentanol was carried out under the co-catalysis of solid bases and Raney metals. Among the investigated catalyst systems, the combinations of magnesium-aluminium hydrotalcite (MgAl-HT) and Raney Ni (or Raney Co) exhibited the best performances. Over them, high carbon yield (96.7%) of C10 and C15 oxygenates was achieved. The Guerbet reaction products were further hydrodeoxygenated to bi(cyclopentane) and tri(cyclopentane) over a series of Ni catalysts. These alkanes have high densities (0.86 g mL−1 and 0.91 g mL−1) and can be used as high density aviation fuels or additives to bio-jet fuel. Among the investigated HDO catalysts, the 35 wt.% Ni-SiO2-DP prepared by deposition-precipitation method exhibited the highest activity.