Novel Catalytic Decarboxylation Process for the Production of Aviation Biofuel

Aviation fuels,or jet fuels, are specialized types of fuel used in aircraft. Due to their vital role in the flight of aircraft, aviation fuels follow stringent quality guidelines compared to other fuels (as shown in the ASTM (American Society for Testing and Materials) D-1655 standard for aviation fuel). Consequently, the production cost of aviation biofuel is higher compared to other transport biofuels. Recently, researchers from AliphaJet, Inc. and University of Louisville (United States) developed a novel method in the production of aviation fuel from renewable products, such as plant and animal triglycerides and/or fatty acids.

In this new process, the fatty acids (released from the fats present in the biomass feedstock) undergoes catalytic decarboxylation (i.e.the release of carbon dioxide) to produce hydrocarbons. Depending on the fatty acids present, the process produces olefins (unsaturated hydrocarbons) or paraffins(saturated hydrocarbons).  For aviation biofuels, the saturated hydrocarbons of a specified carbon chain length is the target product.  The process is reported to be viable for meeting the needs of not just the aviation industry, but of the entire petrochemical industry.

However, in production of aviation fuel (i.e. which are saturated hydrocarbons), small amounts of hydrogen gas in the decarboxylation process) must be introduced in order to convert the produced olefins intro saturated hydrocarbons.  According  to the researchers, this process is more cost-effective (compared to conventional methods of aviation fuel production), in terms of capital and processing cost,  because of the reduction in the use of hydrogen and less complex processing facilities.