High density diamondoid fuels from renewable oils, triglycerides, and fatty acids

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9738843-B1
Application number	US-201615099190-A
Country	US
Kind code	B1
Filing date	Apr 14, 2016
Priority date	Jun 27, 2013
Publication date	Aug 22, 2017
Grant date	Aug 22, 2017

Abstract

A method for making high density fuels including, heating a renewable plant oil, triglyceride, or fatty acid with at least one first acid catalyst to generate a first mixture of alkyladamantanes, increasing reaction time or adding at least one second catalysts to a first mixture of alkyladamantanes to produce a second alkyladamantane mixture, separating methyl, ethyl, propyl, and/or butyl adamantanes from a second alkyladamantane mixture to produce a third adamantane mixture to produce fuels.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method for making high density turbine fuels, comprising:
heating a renewable plant oil, triglyceride, or fatty acid with at least one first acid catalyst to generate a first mixture of alkyl adamantanes with between 11 and 17 carbon atoms;
cracking the first mixture of alkyl adamantanes by continued heating and/or addition of a second catalyst to said first mixture of alkyl adamantanes to produce a second alkyl adamantane mixture with a decreased average molecular weight;
fractionally distilling said second alkyl adamantane mixture to produce a third alkyl adamantane mixture enriched in C 11 -C 14 alkyl adamantanes; and
blending said third alkyl adamantane mixture with other petroleum-based or renewable fuels to obtain high density jet/turbine fuels having densities greater than 0.89 g/mL.

2. The method according to claim 1 , wherein said triglyceride or fatty acid has greater than 11 carbons in the chain.

3. The method according to claim 1 , wherein said first and/or second acid catalyst is a heterogeneous acidic catalyst.

4. The method according to claim 1 , wherein said first and/or second acid catalyst is a mesoporous acidic zeolite selected from the group consisting of AlSBA-15 and AlMCM-41.

5. The method according to claim 1 , wherein said plant oil, triglyceride, fatty acid, first or second adamantane mixture is heated between about 250° C. and about 450° C. to generate a distribution of alkyl adamantanes.

6. The method according to claim 1 , wherein said third alkyl adamantane mixture has a density greater than 0.89 g/mL, a volumetric net heat of combustion greater than 135,000 btu/gal, and a cetane number greater than 40.

Assignees

• Us Navy

Inventors

• Harvey Benjamin G

Classifications

• C10L2290/06

  Heat exchange, direct or indirect · CPC title

• C10L1/08 Primary

  for compression ignition · CPC title

• C10L2200/0469

  Renewables or materials of biological origin · CPC title

• C10L2270/04

  for turbines, planes, power generation · CPC title

• C10L2290/24

  Mixing, stirring of fuel components · CPC title