Fuel production from alcohols

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11097995-B1
Application number	US-202016876338-A
Country	US
Kind code	B1
Filing date	May 18, 2020
Priority date	Jul 29, 2019
Publication date	Aug 24, 2021
Grant date	Aug 24, 2021

Abstract

A method of making fuel including adding alcohol to a reactor with a zinc dihalide salt and heating the reactor to reflux, thereby forming a mixture. Water is removed from the mixture using azeotropic distillation. The mixture is distilled, thereby forming oligo(alkenes)n and residual alcohol. The oligo(alkenes)n are distilled using fractionation, thereby forming a first, a second, a third fraction, and removing the residual alcohol. The first fraction includes oligo(alkenes)n with n ranging from 2 to 4, the second fraction includes oligo(alkenes)n with n ranging from 4 to 8, and the third fraction includes oligo(alkenes)n with n ranging from 8 to 12. The first, second, and third fractions are hydrogenated, thereby forming oligo(alkanes)n. The first fraction includes oligo(alkanes)n with n ranging from 2 to 4, the second fraction includes oligo(alkanes)n with n ranging from 4 to 8, and the third fraction includes oligo(alkanes)n with n ranging from 8 to 12.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method of making a fuel comprising oligo(alkanes) n , comprising:
adding an alcohol to a reactor with a zinc dihalide salt and heating the reactor to reflux, thereby forming a mixture comprising water and oligo(alkenes) n ;
removing water from the mixture using azeotropic distillation to obtain a water-lean mixture;
distilling the water-lean mixture, thereby forming a stream comprising oligo(alkenes) n and residual alcohol, wherein n ranges from 2 to 12;
distilling the stream comprising oligo(alkenes) n and the residual alcohol with fractionation, thereby forming a first fraction, a second fraction, a third fraction, and removing the residual alcohol, wherein:
the first fraction includes oligo(alkenes) n with n ranging from 2 to 4;
the second fraction includes oligo(alkenes) n with n ranging from 4 to 8; and
the third fraction includes oligo(alkenes) n with n ranging from 8 to 12; and

hydrogenating the first fraction, the second fraction, and the third fraction individually, thereby forming oligo(alkanes) n , wherein:
the first fraction includes oligo(alkanes) n with n ranging from 2 to 4;
the second fraction includes oligo(alkanes) n with n ranging from 4 to 8; and
the third fraction includes oligo(alkanes) n with n ranging from 8 to 12.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the alcohol is one or more aliphatic alcohols including carbons ranging from about 3 carbons to 6 carbons.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the hydrogenating the first, second, and third fractions of the oligo(alkenes)n includes a catalyst selected from the group consisting of Ni, Pd, Pt, Ru, or combinations thereof.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the hydrogenation occurs at a pressure ranging from about 40 psi to about 1000 psi.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the oligo(alkanes)n with n ranging from 2 to 4 form a fuel blendstock that is blended with a second fuel selected from the group consisting of JP-8, JP-5, Jet-A, Jet-A1, F-24, Diesel #2, F-76, gasoline and combinations thereof.

6. The method of claim 5 , wherein the oligo(alkanes)n with n ranging from 2 to 4 are present in the fuel blendstock in an amount ranging from about 1% v/v to about 50% v/v based on the total v/v of the fuel blendstock.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the oligo(alkanes)n with n ranging from 4 to 8 form a fuel blendstock that is blended with a second fuel selected from the group consisting of JP-8, JP-5, Jet-A, Jet-A1, F-24, Diesel #2, F-76, gasoline and combinations thereof.

8. The method of claim 7 , wherein the oligo(alkanes)n with n ranging from 4 to 8 are present in the fuel blendstock in an amount ranging from about 1% v/v to about 50% v/v based on the total v/v of the fuel blendstock.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the oligo(alkanes)n with n from 8 to 12 form a lubricant basestock that is blended with motor oil, soap thickening greases, or hydraulic fluid in an amount ranging from about 1% v/v to about 80% v/v.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein the zinc dihalide salt is selected from the group consisting of ZnCl 2 , ZnBr 2 , ZnI 2 , Zn ditriflate, and combinations thereof.

11. The method of claim 1 , wherein the zinc dihalide salt is recovered from the mixture or the water-lean mixture and reused in a subsequent reaction to form more fuel.

12. The method of claim 1 , wherein the hydrogenation occurs at a temperature ranging from about 20° C. to about 200° C.

13. The method of claim 1 , wherein the distilling the reaction water-lean mixture produces a yield of the oligo(alkenes)n of about 25 wt %.

14. The method of claim 1 , wherein the alcohol and zinc dihalide is present in a ratio of about 1:1 to about 5:1.

15. The method of claim 1 , wherein the distilling the mixture is performed at a pressure ranging from about 0.1 torr to about 60 torr.

Assignees

• Us Navy

Inventors

• Davis Matthew C

Classifications

• Y02P30/20

  using bio-feedstock · CPC title

• C10G45/00

  Refining of hydrocarbon oils using hydrogen or hydrogen-generating compounds · CPC title

• C10G3/44 Primary

  characterised by the catalyst used · CPC title

• C07C1/24 Primary

  by elimination of water · CPC title

• C07C7/06

  by azeotropic distillation · CPC title