Turpentine as a bio-based blending component for jet fuel: smoke point measurements

Turpentine obtained by vacuum distillation of the resin of the common pine Pinus pinaster has been analyzed as blending component for jet fuel, and the smoke point results show that this waste product of the wood industry is unsuitable as biofuel. A process simulation scheme with Aspen V9 has been carried out to evaluate the feasibility of the industrial implementation of the whole process, including one second step of hydrogenation of the turpentine that it is thought would eliminate the smoke point problems. The process simulation converges smoothly, and the mass and energy balances and the preliminary equipment design predict the industrial feasibility of the whole process.