Chemical compositions and properties of lignin-based jet fuel range hydrocarbons

Sustainable aviation fuels remain the only near, mid, and likely long term solution for lowering the carbon emissions of commercial and military aviation. Determination of sustainable aviation fuel’s chemical compositions and prediction of their properties is a critical first step for further research and development leading to the final certification process. Our analytical results showed that the lignin-based jet fuel (US patent 9,518,076 B2) consists of mainly paraffinic hydrocarbon species. They can be further classified into several classes, including n-paraffins, iso-paraffins, mono-, di-, and tri-cycloparaffins of which the majority contains carbon numbers in the range of 7–20. The very high concentration of polycycloparaffins along with the relatively low content of monocycloparaffins contribute to the high boiling point of the sample. Reducing the boiling point will require cracking and further hydrotreating of the lignin-based jet fuel range hydrocarbons to increase monocycloparaffins ratio close to the coal-based jet fuel compositions (e.g., JP-900). Also, this lignin-based jet fuel contains very low aromatics concentration which illuminates favorable energy content, energy density, possible low emissions, and very high-performance characteristics might meet drop-in specifications.