Improvement of selectivity from lipid to jet fuel by rational integration of feedstock properties and catalytic strategy

A high yield jet fuel production process by integration of rational feedstock selection and selective hydro-isomerization was proposed and reported in this paper. A Pt/ZSM-12 catalyst was found to be an effective catalyst for the conversion of n-C15 paraffin into multi-branched isomers and mono-branched isomers which satisfied the jet fuel specification. Based on this finding, by integration of feedstock selection, oxygen removing mechanism control and selective hydro-isomerization, a very high weight yield (60%) of algal lipid to jet fuel can be obtained. The obtained jet fuel satisfied the specification of ASTM 7566 standard. Such high jet fuel yield can obviously improve the economics of jet fuel production technology.