Continuous liquid-phase alkylation of lignocellulose-derived phenolics and cyclopentanol under large space velocity for efficient synthesis of high-performance biofuel

Abstract

It is significant to efficiently and feasibly produce high-performance jet fuel from renewable biomass. We reported here that lignin-derived phenolics can be alkylated by cellulose-derived cyclopentanol in a continuous-flow fixed-bed reactor packed with HUSY zeolite without the use of solvents. Under nitrogen pressure, the liquid-phase reaction was achieved. Among the investigated zeolites with different structures and SiO2/Al2O3, HUSY-150 exhibited excellent catalytic performance and stability. By adjusting reaction conditions, almost complete conversion of cyclopentanol was achieved, as well as high phenol conversion (∼70 %), and high polycyclic product selectivity (>95 %) over HUSY-150. Afterwards, we extended the range of feedstock from phenol to other phenolics (guaiacol, 2,6-dimethoxyphenol, and lignin oil surrogates), and even at a high LHSV (liquid hourly space velocity) of 36 mL/(gcat·h), HUSY-150 maintained robust catalytic activity. This study demonstrates a feasible and effective method for producing high-performance jet fuel blends using lignocellulose-derived compounds.