(129a) Process Development for Ethanol and Isobutanol to Jet Fuel | AIChE

(129a) Process Development for Ethanol and Isobutanol to Jet Fuel

Process
Development for Ethanol and Isobutanol to Jet Fuels

Maoqi Feng, Cary Wong, Jimell Erwin and Darius Daruwalla, Chemical
Engineering Dept., Division of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Southwest
Research Institute, San Antonio, TX 78238.

Jet fuels production from renewable ethanol and isobutanol will
significantly reduce the greenhouse gas emissions from airplanes and help the
aviation industry less addict to fossil fuels.  In this study, ethanol and isobutanol
were converted to jet fuel boiling range hydrocarbons in a fixed-bed catalytic
reactor.  Figure 1 shows the block flow diagram.  Three catalysts were
evaluated, ZSM-5, MgO/alumina, and a large pore size zeolite, at three reaction
temperatures: 300, 350, and 400°C.  The per pass conversion yields were between
40-80%.  Isobutanol gave higher conversion than ethanol.  ZSM-5 had higher
selectivity for aromatics such as mesitylenes, xylenes, and toluene.  Catalyst
lifetime study is still in progress.

Figure 1. The Block
Flow Diagram for the Alcohols to Jet Fuels Process