Hexadecane Hydrotreating as a Surrogate for Fischer-Tropsch Wax Upgrading to Aviation Fuel Using a Co/MoO_3/Silica-Alumina Catalyst

摘要

The U.S. Air Force has flight-certified 50/50 blends of synthetic/petroleum-derived fuels and will soon be followed by the commercial aviation fleet. To move to synthetic-rich fuels, the Air Force is constructing a facility for producing its own samples of synthetic research fuels. In support of that effort, we have investigated the activity and selectivity of a commercial Co/MoO_3/Silica-Alumina catalyst using n-hexadecane as a model feed. This unsulfided catalyst exhibits predominantly hydrogenolysis rather than bifunctional hydrocracking. Two distinct types of hydrogenolysis can be discerened: 1) interior C-C bond cleaveage with near equal likelihood at all interior bonds; and 2) sequential terminal methane cleavage.