Jet Fuel Hydrocarbons Production from Catalytic Cracking and Hydrocracking of Soybean Oil

Hydrocarbons representative of jet fuel were produced by both catalytic cracking and one-step catalytic hydrocracking of soybean oil in a lab-scale flow reactor. The yield of kerosene/jet fuel hydrocarbons by catalytic cracking over a commercialized ZSM-5 was as high as 21%. Both temperature and space velocity exhibited irregular effects on the product distribution. Steady state was not attained and significant amounts of tar and coke were generated during the reaction. A bifunctional hydrocracking catalyst with 1.1% ruthenium supported on ZSM-5, prepared by an impregnation method, produced a 16% yield of jet fuel, which is comparable to yields over commercialized sulfided NiMo catalysts while at a much lower pressure of 650 psi. Compared to the catalytic cracking process over ZSM-5, steady-state flow reaction was obtained with less tar and polymerized products.