(197d) Upgrading of Biorenewable Thermal Deoxygenation Oils to Aviation Fuel Range Hydrocarbons

Thermal DeOxygenation (TDO) is a non-catalytic thermochemical conversion process which produces highly deoxygenated biocrude from neutralized biomass acid hydrolysate at 450 °C and at atmospheric pressure. TDO oils are highly stable and have a low oxygen content (< 5 wt %) and a low total acid number (TAN) compared to pyrolysis oil. The broad boiling point range (75-550 °C), and hydrocarbon composition of the crude TDO oil allow it to be compatible with existing petroleum refinery operations. In this work, crude TDO oils are distilled, hydroprocessed, and blended to meet aviation fuel standard specifications. The TDO oils are produced using a mixture of levulinate and formate salt mixture in a pilot scale continuous flow reactor. The crude TDO oils are cleaned and distilled using a fractional distillation apparatus according to the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) D2892 specifications. TDO distillates from 200 ℃ to 350 ℃ are hydrogenated using commercial Ni/SiO₂-Al₂O₃ (65 wt % Ni) catalyst in bench scale continuous flow tubular reactors. The hydrogenation reactions are carried out over a range of temperature from 300 ℃ to 425 ℃, hydrogen pressure from 750 psig 1000 psig, and weight hourly space velocity (WHSV) from 0.1 hr^-1 to 0.3 hr^-1. Distilled and hydrogenated TDO oils are analyzed for chemical and physicochemical properties according to ASTM methods. Properties of upgraded TDO oils are compared with ASTM 3699 and MIL-DTL-83133H aviation and turbine fuel standards and blended appropriately to meet the specifications.