Production of jet fuel and green diesel range biohydrocarbons by hydroprocessing of soybean oil over niobium phosphate catalyst

Drop-in biofuels are non-oxygenated biofuels composed by biohydrocarbons produced from different biomass. These drop-in biofuels (biogasoline, bio jet-fuel and green diesel) show a great importance due to their properties similar to those observed for fossil fuels. Lipids are one of the most important raw material used for deoxygenation reactions over special catalysts. In this work, niobium phosphate was investigated as catalyst in the production of drop-in biofuels from soybean oil, using mild experimental conditions. The performance of niobium phosphate was evaluated under different reaction time (3-5 h), catalyst amount (0-25%) and temperature (300-350 degrees C), using 10 bar H-2. The composition of the liquid products was determined by gas chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry, and characterized by infrared spectroscopy. The optimization process led to high yields of hydrocarbons in the range of C9-C17. About 62% of bio-jet fuel, 40% of green diesel, and 18% of gasoline range hydrocarbons were obtained in a single reaction step. Their composition included mainly linear and branched alkanes as well as aromatics compounds. The pathways for the involved reactions are discussed.