THERMAL CATALYTIC DECARBOXYLATION OF MG-ZN BASIC SOAP TO PRODUCE DROP-IN FUELS IN JET FUEL BOILING RANGES

Abstract

Deoxygenation of Fatty acid or their derivatives is a method for producing renewable hydrocarbon fuels such as jet biofuel, green diesel and biogasoline. In the present commercial method, deoxygenation is directly applied to vegetable oils through liquid phase hydrotreatment. This method is expensive because it requires the use of problematic sulfided catalysts and high pressure of hydrogen and requires severe operating conditions. The objective of this study was to produce alkane biohydrocarbons, particularly jet fuel that can be considered to be drop-in replacements for petroleum-based jet fuel components, by catalytic thermal decarboxylation of Mg-Zn basic soap. Specifically, this study investigated the decarboxylation of the basic soap at mild operating conditions without external supply of hydrogen. The Mg-Zn basic soap (9/1 mol ratio of Mg/Zn) was derived from fatty acid methyl esters C12/C16 of palm kernel oil and  decarboxylated for 3 hours at atmospheric pressure and temperatures between 250 to 350 oC. The basic soap effectively decarboxylated yielding a jet fuel-type biohydrocarbons, with a liquid product yield of 42,94%-weight. The resulting hydrocarbon product is a complex mixture consisting of normal paraffins in the range of carbon chain length C8 - C20, iso- and cyclo-paraffins and the various olefin products.