(111g) Bio-Jet and Bio-Kerosene Production from Ozonolysis of High Oleic Oil

United States must reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by at least 50 % below 2005 levels by 2030 and achieve net zero emissions by 2050. The transportation sector accounts for over 25 % of total GHG emissions in the United States. With the action of net-zero emission, passenger vehicles and light-duty diesel engine trucks will be phased out by electric vehicles by 2035. However, heavy-duty engines, such as airplanes, will still require liquid fuels with a projected annual production of 36 billion gallons, and over 50 % of jet fuels need to be renewable. Several technologies have been developed to produce fuels from renewable sources to fulfill net zero emission, such as hydrogenation of fats/oils, alcohol dehydration/oligomerization, sugar hydrogenation, syngas hydrogenation, and biodiesel fractionation. However, these technologies have high energy requirements for production, low yields of target products, or high energy needs for product separation. High oleic oils initially have received attention for their health and nutrition benefits, but industrial applications are now receiving attention. The production of high oleic soybean oil will significantly increase from 3 billion pounds in 2022 to 9 billion pounds in 2027. In this study, nonanoic acid from ozonolysis of oleic acid in high oleic soybean oil was used as the feedstock to produce various alcohol esters via methanesulfonic acid catalysis. Varying the carbon length of the alcohol exhibits an insignificant effect on the density of the products but significantly influences other properties, such as cloud points, viscosity, and heat of combustion. Our results show that these products could be excellent alternatives to jet fuels or kerosene because of the excellent cold flow properties with the cloud points ranging from -35 ^oC to - 70 ^oC depending on the type of alcohol. The other properties, such as density, viscosity, energy contents, cetane number, etc., were also measured by ASTM standards and complied with the ASTM standards. In addition, the properties can be adjusted by the type of alcohol for various use. Therefore, the approach we described provides a novel method to produce alternatives to petroleum-based jet, kerosene, and diesel fuels.