Energy-dense sustainable aviation fuel-range hydrocarbons from cyclohexanone as a biomass-derived feedstock via sequential catalytic aldol condensation and hydrodeoxygenation

Abstract

Climate change is the main driver for sustainable aviation fuels production as a means of decarbonising/defossilising the sector. In this work, several catalysts have been screened to produce aviation fuel (C6-C16) component hydrocarbons from cyclohexanone, a model compound of lignin-derived bio-oils. Using a two-stage two-pot approach, up to 99 % cyclohexanone conversion was achieved in the presence of hydrogen gas. In the first stage, catalytic activities of NbOPO4, Al2O3, SiO2, and ZrO2-SiO2 to promote aldol condensation were tested at 160 °C for 3 h. The NbOPO4 exhibited the highest selectivity towards C-C coupling adducts with mainly C12 to C18. In the second stage, 30 wt% Ni catalysts on three different supports and 5 wt% Pd/Al2O3 were used to catalyse the hydrogenation of the first-stage adducts at 300 °C for 3 h. The 30 wt%Ni/NbOPO4 was most effective, promoting the formation of bi-cycloalkanes, alkyl aromatic, and partially hydrogenated polyaromatic hydrocarbons. In comparison, a one-pot two-step approach was tested by sequentially reacting cyclohexanone with hydrogen gas over the two temperatures for 3 h each, using 30 wt%Ni/NbOPO4 as catalyst. Reacting cyclohexanone with 10 wt% bio-oil samples led to significantly reduced first stage conversion, and enhanced yields of single C-C coupled oxygenates and almost no hydrocarbons in the second stage. Overall, combination of catalysts and hydrogen gas over staged reactions has effectively converted pure cyclohexanone into naphthene-rich liquid hydrocarbons and cyclohexanone/bio-oil mixed feedstocks into their oxygenated precursors. These results support potential targeted production of bio-derived sustainable alternative fuels for the defossilisation of aviation industry.

Publication DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cej.2025.161494
Divisions: College of Engineering & Physical Sciences > School of Infrastructure and Sustainable Engineering > Chemical Engineering & Applied Chemistry
College of Engineering & Physical Sciences
College of Engineering & Physical Sciences > Energy and Bioproducts Research Institute (EBRI)
Aston University (General)
Funding Information: This work was supported by Innovate UK Energy Catalyst Round 8: Clean Energy − Experimental Development (Project Number 75521) and Innovate UK Energy Catalyst Round 9 – Mid Stage (Project Number 10047783).
Additional Information: Copyright © 2025 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
Uncontrolled Keywords: Aldol condensation,Cyclohexanone,Hydrogenation,Lignin-derived bio-oil,Niobium phosphate-based catalysts,Sustainable Aviation fuel-range hydrocarbons,General Chemistry,Environmental Chemistry,General Chemical Engineering,Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering
Publication ISSN: 1873-3212
Last Modified: 01 Apr 2025 07:12
Date Deposited: 14 Mar 2025 10:19
Full Text Link:
Related URLs: https://www.sci ... 3162?via%3Dihub (Publisher URL)
http://www.scop ... tnerID=8YFLogxK (Scopus URL)
PURE Output Type: Article
Published Date: 2025-04-01
Published Online Date: 2025-03-11
Accepted Date: 2025-03-10
Authors: Hart, Abarasi
Onwudili, Jude (ORCID Profile 0000-0002-5355-9970)
Yildirir, Eyup
Hashemnezhad, Seyed E.

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