Synthesis of diesel fuel blendstock from carbohydrates
AssigneePhillips 66 Company
InventorsEdgar Lotero, Kristi A. Fjare, Cory B. Phillips, Alexandru Platon
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Abstract
Carbohydrates as derived from plant biomass can be converted into mono-alcohols, diols, and/or bi-functional alcohols or into carboxylic acid derivatives. By catalytic transesterification of such carbohydrate derivatives, ester-type diesel-fuel blendstock components may be produced. More specifically, alkyl levulinates are catalytically trans-esterified with hydroxyl-functionalized compounds where both the alcohols and the alkyl levulinates are derived from biomass carbohydrates. Esters produced in this way show physicochemical characteristics that make them suitable for use as diesel fuel blendstock.
Claims11
A process for converting lignocellulosic carbohydrates to diesel fuel blendstock comprising:
- a) providing a levulinate solution derived from lignocellulosic carbohydrates where the levulinate solution comprises levulinate molecules;
- b) providing an alcohol solution comprising alcohol molecules wherein the alcohol molecules include one or more hydroxyl groups;
- and
- c) transesterifying the levulinate solution with the alcohol solution over a transesterification catalyst under effective conditions to combine at least some of the levulinate molecules with some of the alcohol molecules to form larger molecules that are diesel range molecules suitable for diesel fuel blendstock.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.