Research progress on the preparation of aviation kerosene using bioethanol

In recent years, the Chinese government has put forward the "dual carbon" goal of achieving carbon peak by 2030 and carbon neutrality by 2060. In order to achieve this goal, the petrochemical industry is facing the urgent challenge of transformation and development, energy conservation and emission reduction. Bio-based aviation kerosene represents a sustainable and environmentally friendly alternative for reducing carbon emissions in the aviation industry, offering significant promise for widespread adoption. This paper provides a comprehensive review of the process for producing aviation kerosene from biomass. With the rapid development of China's bioethanol industry and abundant production, the energy supply diversification strategy represented by ethanol and other alternative energy sources has become a direction of energy policies in various countries. The use of bioethanol as a raw material for the preparation of aviation kerosene plays an important role in the environment, economy and sustainability. This paper focuses on the process of converting bioethanol into aviation fuel. The paper analyzes and summarizes the reaction conditions and catalysts involved in three main reactions: ethanol dehydration to ethylene, olefin oligomerization, and hydrogenation. At present, ATJ process still has some disadvantages such as long process flow and low conversion efficiency. The route from ethanol to jet kerosene is complex and requires three different catalysts. We need to develop a catalyst that can catalyze both dehydration reaction and oligomerization hydrogenation reaction, improve conversion efficiency and reduce production cost. Additionally, it introduces the carbon-carbon coupling of ethanol and hydrodeoxidation for aviation kerosene production, including discussions on reaction mechanisms and catalysts for high carbon alcohol preparation. In the Guerbet condensation reaction of ethanol, the presence of by-product water will hinder the reaction. Therefore, a catalyst for ethanol aqueous carbon-carbon coupling reaction to produce high-carbon alcohols was proposed. The catalyst with good water resistance can maintain its activity and selectivity in the presence of water, effectively inhibit the interference of water molecules, and thus improve the efficiency and stability of the catalytic reaction. Jet kerosene was obtained by hydrodeoxidation of high carbon alcohols, in which noble metal and molybdenum based catalysts had good catalytic performance. Transition metals combined with Mo2C catalysts can selectively break C-O bonds in polyols and avoid C-C bond breakage. Research and development of efficient hydrodeoxidation catalysts can promote the conversion of high-carbon alcohols to hydrocarbons, which provides important support for the development of alternative aviation fuels. The paper highlights current challenges in ethanol-based aviation kerosene production, such as high costs and the need for new catalysts. Furthermore, it proposes future development directions in this field, offering valuable insights for the industrialization of bioethanol-based aviation kerosene production.