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Updated: Sep 17, 2025

Laboratory Production of Biofuels and Biochemicals from a Rapeseed Oil through Catalytic Cracking Conversion
Published on: September 2, 2016
Upgrading biocrude oil into sustainable aviation fuel using zeolite-supported iron-molybdenum carbide nanocatalysts
Siying Yu1, Haozhen He1, Sabrina Summers2
1Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, 600 South Mathews Ave., Urbana, IL 61801, USA.
Abstract:
Food waste is an underdeveloped source for production of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF). Now, there is no certified conversion process of food waste for SAF by American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM). We report the use of zeolite-supported molybdenum carbide nanocatalysts in upgrading biocrudes, produced from food wastes through HTL, into SAF precursors. Our data show a complete removal of oxygen from the biocrude through hydrodeoxygenation and a higher heating value of 46.5 MJ/kg, which is comparable to that of Jet A (46.1 MJ/kg). The prescreening tests (tier alpha and beta) show the average carbon number of the distillation cut (150° to 230°C) of upgraded fuel is 10.6, close to the value of 11.4 for average conventional jet fuel, and the specifications of properties including surface tension, viscosity, heating value, flash point, and freezing point were found to meet the standards of SAF. The metal carbide nanocatalysts were reusable in upgrading tests, and the activity of deoxygenation was retained.
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