The U.S. Air Force’s Assured Aerospace Fuels Research Facility Fischer- Tropsch Liquids Upgrading Reactor

摘要

As part of a strategic initiative to prepare for the broader use of synthetic aviation fuels, theUnited States Air Force is constructing a facility which will allow it to produce syntheticaviation fuels and fuel components in quantities sufficient for small scale engine testing.When completed, it will be possible to produce synthesis gas, convert synthesis gas toliquids, and further process these liquids to fuel and fuel components which can beseparated by distillation. Here we describe the operation of a catalytic hydrocracker forthe conversion of normal alkane feedstocks to jet fuel as the first phase of this effort. Theunit is designed to produce in the range of 10-15 gallons of jet fuel per day. Acommercially available cut of a Fischer-Tropsch wax with carbon numbers ranging fromabout C20 to C60 and a distribution peak in the C30-C35 range, serves as the initial test feed.This broad distribution of paraffins is isomerized and hydrocracked over a commerciallymanufactured, unsulfided, Co/MoO3/Silica-Alumina catalyst to yield naphtha and fuelfractions which are subsequently isolated in a fractionator and vacuum distillationcolumn, respectively. The insufficiently converted distribution left in the vacuum bottomsis then recycled to the entrance of the catalytic cracking unit where it is continuouslycombined with fresh feed. We describe the initial operating characteristics, cracking, andproduct recovery results.