Biojet Fuel Production from Ethanol and Isobutanol

Biojet fuels production from renewable ethanol and isobutanol will significantly reduce the greenhouse gas emissions from the aviation industry.  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.  The catalysts evaluated in the tests include: ZSM-5, MgO/alumina, and a large pore size zeolite. Different reaction temperatures, 300, 350, and 400°C, were compared.  The conversion yields were between 40-80%.  High selectivity for aromatics such as mesitylenes, xylenes, and toluene was obtained for ZSM-5.  An economic analysis will be presented.

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