Conversion of Pentose-Derived Furans into Hydrocarbon Fuels

We are interested in the conversion of biomass-derived hemicellulose into hydrocarbon molecules that can be used in the formulation of 'drop-in' fuels such as gasoline (C5-12), diesel (C10-20) and jet fuel (C9-16). Our focus lies on the use of furfuryl alcohol as a starting material since that is already produced commercially from hemicellulose-derived pentoses. The steps required to convert the latter into hydrocarbons are 1) oligomerization of furfuryl alcohol to form dimers (C10) and trimers (C15), and 2) hydrotreatment of the dimers and trimers to produce a mixture of linear hydrocarbons with carbon chain lengths in the range of diesel and jet fuels. However, furfuryl alcohol readily polymerizes to form resins in the presence of an acid catalyst, and the exothermic oligomerization must be carried out under reaction control. This presentation will discuss our progress in the development of this sugar-to-hydrocarbon pathway.