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Title: Continuous Hydrodeoxygenation of Lignin to Jet-Range Aromatic Hydrocarbons

Journal Article · · Joule

Sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) is essential to decrease the carbon footprint of the aviation industry. Although many strategies have been developed to provide the linear and branched aliphatic components of SAF, few viable strategies have been demonstrated to supply the aromatic and cycloalkane fraction of the SAF at the necessary scale from bio-based feedstocks. Lignin is the largest natural source of renewable aromatic compounds; however, major challenges in deoxygenation have prevented its use as a feedstock for SAFs. Here, we report a continuous, two-stage catalytic process using molybdenum carbide to deoxygenate lignin from poplar into aromatic hydrocarbons with 87.5% selectivity toward aromatic hydrocarbons at 86% of the theoretical carbon recovery. Tier a fuel property testing indicates that the SAF-range lignin-derived aromatic compounds are likely performance-advantaged across multiple properties relative to conventional jet fuel aromatic compounds. This work demonstrates an effective approach to convert lignin into aromatic SAF blendstocks.

Research Organization:
National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Sustainable Transportation Office. Bioenergy Technologies Office; USDOE Office of Science (SC), Biological and Environmental Research (BER)
DOE Contract Number:
AC36-08GO28308
OSTI ID:
1900006
Report Number(s):
NREL/JA-2A00-82012; MainId:82785; UUID:01c0cc85-2a70-4c38-90e4-3f73c234af9c; MainAdminID:68062
Journal Information:
Joule, Vol. 6, Issue 10
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

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