Detailed Characterization of Physical and Chemical Properties of Cellulosic Gasoline and Cellulosic Gasoline Stocks.

摘要

Initially AVFL intended to study ethanol samples, but in seeking such samples it was discovered that many potential suppliers were using processes that took the cellulosic feedstock and produced hydrocarbon blending stocks or even gasoline. One might imagine from this trend that the business model for producing cellulosic fuel may be evolving toward drop-in stocks, or stocks that can be tuned to some extent so that they meet purchasers’ needs. For both cellulosic ethanol and more refined stocks the detailed composition is useful, but the presence and nature of unanticipated impurities may have equal importance. We hoped to gain better insights into both aspects of cellulosic fuels and stocks by use of advanced analysis techniques. In addition to one distillate in the jet fuel range that was studied to complete the original AVFL-19 report. In AVFL-19a several hydrocarbon samples from different raw material sources were evaluated as well as one cellulosic ethanol sample. The hydrocarbon samples were 3 naphthas (referred to as Naphtha 1 – Naphtha 3 in this report), a wood derived gasoline (referred to as Woody Biomass Gasoline in this report), and a heavier distillate-like sample from a biological source material (referred to as cellulosic jet fuel in this report). One sample was an algal lipid-derived naphtha that is a by-product of renewable diesel/jet production while the others were derived from other lipid sources. In both cases hydrotreatment and isomerization techniques were used to form the final product. The Woody Biomass Gasoline was created by gasifying wood to syngas using two steps: conversion of syngas to a mixture of methanol and dimethyl ether (DME) followed by conversion to all-hydrocarbon gasoline. Because the suppliers of these samples are naturally cautious at this early phase in their business creation, no further details of the source materials or processing routes or identification is provided. In this report the character and impurities of these samples are studied using standard ASTM techniques, advanced GC methods, and NMR techniques. These advanced techniques provide fascinating insights that are complementary to the valuable information provided in ASTM testing, insights that may allow for optimizing the value of the fuel or blend stock, and possibly in understanding and capitalizing on the combustion properties in modern engines.