Application of Hierarchical H–Y Zeolites in Hydroxyalkylation–Alkylation of 2-Methylfuran with Furfural to Produce Jet Fuel Precursors
Odiri K. Siakpebru, Lakshmiprasad Gurrala, Anoop Uchagawkar, Oliver Norris, Jared Bartlett, Ana Rita C. Morais
Abstract
Producing jet fuel-range alkanes from lignocellulosic biomass is critical for achieving carbon neutrality in the aviation industry. However, carbon–carbon (C–C) coupling reactions are required to increase the molecular weight of hydrocarbon precursors, which can be further processed to yield jet fuel-range alkanes. In this work, two different hierarchical H–Y zeolites (H–Y-mod-1 and H–Y-mod-2) were synthesized using a surfactant-templating method to catalyze the hydroxyalkylation–alkylation (HAA) reactions of 2-methylfuran (2-MF) with furfural (FF) to produce a C 15 hydrocarbon precursor. Specifically, hierarchical H–Y-mod-1 zeolite achieved a ninefold increase in C 15 precursor yield (71.7 ± 0.2 mol %) compared to parental H–Y zeolite (4.3 ± 0.1 mol %) at 80 °C for 5 h of residence time. This enhanced catalytic activity of the hierarchical H–Y-mod-1 zeolite was attributed to its mesoporosity and strong Brønsted acidity in comparison to parental H–Y. Catalyst recyclability studies showed that hierarchical H–Y-mod-1 can be used up to three times, with a 28.7% decrease in C 15 yield only after the third recycling cycle. These findings suggest that fine-tuned acidic zeolites can be leveraged to catalyze HAA reactions to produce jet fuel precursors.