An alkylation route for developing novel liquid aviation fuels from α-pinene and mixed isobutane/isobutene

As a naturally rigid polycyclic biomass platform compound without oxygen, α-pinene has always been expected to develop high-energy–density fuel with both good combustion performance and cryogenic properties by increasing carbon number in a high atom economical way. The present work has explored the screening of alkylation blocks for α-pinene over H3PW12O40 (HPW). Here, a novel pinene-based blended fuel was prepared through cross-alkylation of α-pinene with mixed isobutane/isobutene, the common low-cost feedstock of alkylated gasoline. The reaction conditions including feed composition, reaction time, catalyst dosage, and reaction temperature were optimized. The mechanism of the hybrid alkylation process was further computationally speculated and experimentally verified. Produced liquid hydrocarbon products after hydrogenation and vacuum distillation possessed higher net heat of combustion and flash point than those of pinane, and lower freezing point and viscosity than those of dimers fuel from pinene. These favorable performances indicate that alkylated pinanes have promising potential as high-energy aviation fuel.