Cross-metathesis of microbial oils for the production of advanced biofuels and chemicals

A range of microbial oils were cross-metathesized with ethene using Hoveyda-Grubbs 2nd generation catalyst. The products formed from the microbial oils were compared to alternative first and second generation oils. Upon separation, three separate fractions were produced: an alkene hydrocarbon fraction or aviation fuel fraction (AFF), a shorter chain triglyceride fraction that upon transesterification was suitable as a road transport fuel (RTF) and a volatile short-chain alkene fraction (gas phase fraction, GPF). The fuel fractions were purified through distillation and compared to the relevant fuel standards. Though there was variation for the road transport fuel fraction due to the presence of long chain saturates, all the RTF produced fell within the ASTM standard for biodiesel. The AFF was found to be highly suitable for aviation, falling entirely within the DEF-STAN fuel standard. In addition the AFF possessed a higher energy density than Jet A-1 while 1-decene was found to have a higher oxidative stability than jet fuel. Finally, the GPF was found to predominantly contain propene, butene and pentadiene isomers, all of which have application in the polymer industry. With further development, this process could provide the basis for a microbial oil biorefinery for the production of sustainable biofuels and polymer precursors.

一系列微生物油脂通过霍维达-格鲁布斯第二代催化剂与乙烯进行交叉共轭反应。由微生物油脂形成的产物与第一代和第二代替代油脂进行了比较。经过分离，产生了三个独立的组分：一个烯烃烃类组分或航空燃料组分（AFF）、一个较短链的甘油三酯组分，该组分在转酯化后适用于道路运输燃料（RTF），以及一个挥发性短链烯烃组分（气相组分，GPF）。这些燃料组分通过蒸馏进行了纯化，并与相关燃料标准进行了比较。尽管由于长链饱和物的存在，道路运输燃料组分存在一定的变异，但所有生产的RTF均符合ASTM生物柴油标准。AFF被发现非常适合于航空用途，完全符合DEF-STAN燃料标准。此外，AFF的能量密度高于Jet A-1，而1-癸烯的氧化稳定性高于喷气燃料。最后，GPF被发现主要含有丙烯、丁烯和戊二烯异构体，这些异构体在聚合物工业中均有应用。随着进一步的发展，此过程可能为微生物油脂生物精炼厂的生产可持续生物燃料和聚合物前体奠定基础。