New Acid Catalysts Increase Efficiency in Refining Diesel-Range Fuels

Outcome/Accomplishment

New catalyst compositions are producing higher rates and better yield for diesel-range fuels in processes developed at Center for Innovative and Strategic Transformation of Alkane Resources (CISTAR), a U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF)-funded Engineering Research Center (ERC) based at Purdue University.

Impact/Benefits

These compositions and processes developed at NSF CISTAR show promise for advancing the refining industry’s use of catalytic processes. The processes are shown to convert olefins, another innovation studied at NSF CISTAR, at rates 500 times greater than traditional thermal reactions in producing diesel-range fuels.

Explanation/Background

The research on new catalysts builds on NSF CISTAR’s study of olefins, or alkenes, a class of hydrocarbons used as building blocks for many products such as plastics. The new catalysts prove more efficient than thermal reactions in oligomerization, a reaction used to upgrade light olefins to heavier molecules useful as liquid fuels.

These newer “Lewis acid catalysts,” notably including alumina, are highly stable, showing little deactivation for more than a week. New catalytic reactions of olefins by Lewis acid catalysts produce gasoline- and diesel-range hydrocarbons by different chemistry than previously known Brønsted acid catalysts, such as zeolite, do. An initial evaluation of the process under realistic reaction conditions suggests the new catalysts are attractive for commercial development.

Image
Credit:
CISTAR

Location

West Lafayette, Indiana

e-mail

cistar@purdue.edu

Start Year

Energy and Sustainability

Energy and Sustainability Icon
Energy and Sustainability Icon

Energy, Sustainability, and Infrastructure

Lead Institution

Purdue University

Core Partners

University of New Mexico, Northwestern University, University of Notre Dame, University of Texas at Austin
Image
Credit:
CISTAR

Outcome/Accomplishment

New catalyst compositions are producing higher rates and better yield for diesel-range fuels in processes developed at Center for Innovative and Strategic Transformation of Alkane Resources (CISTAR), a U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF)-funded Engineering Research Center (ERC) based at Purdue University.

Location

West Lafayette, Indiana

e-mail

cistar@purdue.edu

Start Year

Energy and Sustainability

Energy and Sustainability Icon
Energy and Sustainability Icon

Energy, Sustainability, and Infrastructure

Lead Institution

Purdue University

Core Partners

University of New Mexico, Northwestern University, University of Notre Dame, University of Texas at Austin

Impact/benefits

These compositions and processes developed at NSF CISTAR show promise for advancing the refining industry’s use of catalytic processes. The processes are shown to convert olefins, another innovation studied at NSF CISTAR, at rates 500 times greater than traditional thermal reactions in producing diesel-range fuels.

Explanation/Background

The research on new catalysts builds on NSF CISTAR’s study of olefins, or alkenes, a class of hydrocarbons used as building blocks for many products such as plastics. The new catalysts prove more efficient than thermal reactions in oligomerization, a reaction used to upgrade light olefins to heavier molecules useful as liquid fuels.

These newer “Lewis acid catalysts,” notably including alumina, are highly stable, showing little deactivation for more than a week. New catalytic reactions of olefins by Lewis acid catalysts produce gasoline- and diesel-range hydrocarbons by different chemistry than previously known Brønsted acid catalysts, such as zeolite, do. An initial evaluation of the process under realistic reaction conditions suggests the new catalysts are attractive for commercial development.