One-pot production of jet fuels from fatty acids and vegetable oils in biphasic tandem catalytic process

Bio-jet fuel has already been used in commercial flights to decarbonize the aviation transportation sector. However, the widespread use of bio-jet fuel is still a challenge partly due to the high production costs. In particular, the production of commercial bio-jet fuel from lipids requires high temperatures and includes multiple reaction units, i.e., hydrodeoxygenation and hydrocracking, increasing operation costs. The integration of these processes in one pot was attempted but unsuccessful. Herein, a novel biphasic catalytic process was developed to realize the one-pot production of bio-jet fuel from fatty acids with the supported ruthenium (Ru) catalysts and the mixed cyclohexane and water solvents under mild conditions. The cracking selectivity was tuned by adjusting the ratios of cyclohexane and water. The Ru/C catalysts modified by TiO2 were synthesized and characterized with BET, XRD, SEM, TEM, NH3-TPD, XPS, etc. Compared with the unmodified catalyst, the deoxygenation reaction rate increased up to five folds. The carbon yield of jet-fuel-range alkanes reached 35.2 wt % from oleic acid at a relatively low temperature (260 degrees C). The catalyst also showed good stability after five consecutive reuse cycles. This efficient biphasic catalytic process was further extended to convert triglycerides and crude vegetable oil to produce bio-jet fuel.

Automated summary

Researchers have developed a novel biphasic catalytic process to efficiently produce bio-jet fuel from fatty acids, aiming to reduce the production costs in the aviation industry. By adjusting the catalyst and solvent, cracking selectivity can be tuned. The optimized Ru/C catalyst exhibits excellent performance, achieving high carbon yield of jet-fuel-range alkanes at relatively low temperatures.