Yu Siying, He Haozhen, Summers Sabrina, Yang Zhibin, Si Buchun, Gao Runnan, Song Anran, Heyne Joshua, Zhang Yuanhui, Yang Hong
Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, 600 South Mathews Ave., Urbana, IL 61801, USA.
Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL 61801, USA.
Sci Adv. 2025 Jun 27;11(26):eadu5777. doi: 10.1126/sciadv.adu5777.
Food waste is an underdeveloped source for production of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF). Now, there is no certified conversion process of food waste for SAF by American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM). We report the use of zeolite-supported molybdenum carbide nanocatalysts in upgrading biocrudes, produced from food wastes through HTL, into SAF precursors. Our data show a complete removal of oxygen from the biocrude through hydrodeoxygenation and a higher heating value of 46.5 MJ/kg, which is comparable to that of Jet A (46.1 MJ/kg). The prescreening tests (tier alpha and beta) show the average carbon number of the distillation cut (150° to 230°C) of upgraded fuel is 10.6, close to the value of 11.4 for average conventional jet fuel, and the specifications of properties including surface tension, viscosity, heating value, flash point, and freezing point were found to meet the standards of SAF. The metal carbide nanocatalysts were reusable in upgrading tests, and the activity of deoxygenation was retained.
食物垃圾是可持续航空燃料（SAF）生产的未充分开发来源。目前，美国材料与试验协会（ASTM）没有针对SAF的食物垃圾认证转化工艺。我们报告了使用沸石负载碳化钼纳米催化剂将通过水热液化从食物垃圾中产生的生物原油升级为SAF前驱体。我们的数据表明，通过加氢脱氧可完全去除生物原油中的氧，且高热值为46.5 MJ/kg，与喷气A燃料（46.1 MJ/kg）相当。预筛选试验（α级和β级）表明，升级燃料蒸馏馏分（150°至230°C）的平均碳数为10.6，接近传统喷气燃料平均值11.4，并且发现包括表面张力、粘度、热值、闪点和冰点在内的性能规格符合SAF标准。金属碳化物纳米催化剂在升级试验中可重复使用，并保留了脱氧活性。
