A Well Dispersed Co/Al-SBA-15 Catalyst for Highly Selective Synthesis of Aviation Kerosene from Syngas

With the depletion of petroleum resources, more and more attention has been paid to the production route of non-oil-based aviation kerosene. Among them, to produce aviation kerosene from synthesis gas (CO and H₂) is one of the most promising industrial alternative fuel production routes. The traditional catalyst for making aviation kerosene from syngas is based on iron and cobalt. The process is complicated and cost is high. In this paper, a novel Co/Al-SBA-15-La metal-zeolite catalyst prepared by melt infiltration method has been reported for the direct and highly selective production of aviation kerosene components from syngas (CO and H₂). Compared with the catalyst prepared by impregnation method, the Co/Al-SBA-15-La catalyst prepared by melt infiltration method has smaller, highly dispersed CoO_x and LaO_x nanoparticle size and suitable acidity. Under the optimal loading amount, the conversion of CO can reach 45.8%, and the selectivity of C₈–C₁₆ aviation kerosene component can reach 54.0%, which provides a new idea for the industrial production of aviation kerosene.