(476f) Catalytic Conversion of Lignocellulosic Carbohydrates into Drop-in Liquid Hydrocarbons

Environmental concerns and the volatility of the liquid transportation fuel market has accelerated the need for sustainable alternatives to petroleum-derived fuels. Although small cars and trucks can transition to electric powered solutions, the same approach is a lot more challenging for the aviation industry to adopt. Thus, the development of drop-in sustainable aviation fuels (SAFs) from lignocellulosic biomass is a major area of focus worldwide. In the present work, a method for direct condensation and hydrodeoxygenation of carbohydrates from lignocellulosic biomass in liquid alkane solvents is proposed, yielding up to C7 alkanes. Such method uses hydrogen pressure and zeolite-supported nickel catalysts at relatively low temperatures (250-300 °C), converting over 90 % of the lignocellulosic biomass to a range of products including alkanes and aromatics in a single step. The faith of cellulose and hemicellulose fractions in the biomass were evaluated using carbon-labeled pure substrates, shedding light on the complex condensation/ hydrodeoxygenation mechanisms that govern the system. A comprehensive product characterization and quantification will be presented for pure substrates and their mixtures. The proposed strategy can be highly integrated with existing petroleum refineries and can represent a significant steppingstone toward the production of bio-based drop-in fuels, including SAFs in petrochemical refineries.