Direct Production of Jet Fuel by Catalytic Hydrocracking of Glycerol Trioleate over a Ni/Mo Catalyst Supported on Nb2O5–ZrO2

A novel Nb2O5–ZrO2 support was synthesized and used to support Ni or Mo metal as a catalyst, and γ-Al2O3 and SAPO-11 were selected as supports for comparison. The catalysts were then used for catalytic hydrodeoxidation of glycerol trioleate (GT) and jatropha curcas oil into jet-fuel-range hydrocarbons in one step. The results showed that the reduced Ni metal could significantly promote hydrodeoxidation of GT and improve the selectivity of alkanes (57.1–73.0%). The support had significant inference on the catalysts. The prepared Nb2O5–ZrO2 support, due to its properties of high surface area (34.1 m2 g–1), suitable pore size (13.7 nm), and appropriate medium-strength acidic sites with proper density, made the Ni/Nb2O5–ZrO2 catalyst beneficial for the high selectivity of jet fuel (54.5%) in liquid products (68.5%). Ni/Nb2O5–ZrO2 could reduce the generation of coke and gas and increase the yield of liquid product compared with Ni/γ-Al2O3. On the other hand, Ni/Nb2O5–ZrO2 had higher catalytic efficiency upon hydrodeoxidation of GT and could inhibit the excessive production of aromatics in liquid products compared with Ni/SAPO-11. In the final product of catalytic hydrocracking of GT over Ni/Nb2O5–ZrO2, the specific composition of hydrocarbons in the C8–C16 range was 65.9% alkanes, 8.6% aromatics, 16.1% olefins, and 2.3% oxygenates, indicating that the direct catalytic cracking product of GT over Ni/Nb2O5–ZrO2 almost meets the needs of jet fuel.