Renewable Engine Fuel And Method Of Producing Same
First Claim
1. A method of producing bio-mass derived high-octane fuel, comprising the steps of:
- (a) fermenting a biomass with a microorganism or a mutagen thereof to produce a mixture of metabolites comprising acetone and butanol;
(b) separating the acetone from butanol and any ethanol or other solvents in the mixture by fractional distillation;
(c) dimerizing a portion of resultant acetone from step (b) to form isopentane;
(d) trimerizing another portion of the acetone from step (b) using a catalyst containing at least one metal selected from the group consisting of niobium, iron, and manganese to form mesitylene, and(e) mixing the mesitylene with the isopentane from steps (c) and (d), whereby to form the biomass-derived high-octane fuel.
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Accused Products
Abstract
The present invention provides non-petroleum high-octane fuel derived from biomass sources, and a method of producing same. The method of production involves reducing the biomass feedstocks to sugars, fermenting the sugars using microorganisms or mutagens thereof to produce ethanol or acetic acid, converting the acetic acid or ethanol to acetone, and converting the acetone to mesitylene and isopentane, the major components of the renewable engine fuel. Trimerization of acetone can be carried out in the presence of a catalyst containing at least one metal selected from the group consisting of niobium, iron and manganese. The ethanol can be converted to mesitylene in a dehydration reaction in the presence of a catalyst of zinc oxide/calcium oxide, and unreacted ethanol and water separated from mesitylene by distillation. These ethanol-based, biomass-derived fuels are fully renewable, may be formulated to have a wide range of octane values and energy, and may effectively be used to replace 100 LL aviation fuel (known as AvGas), as well as high-octane, rocket, diesel, turbine engine fuels, as well as two-cycle, spark-ignited engine fuels.
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Citations
35 Claims
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1. A method of producing bio-mass derived high-octane fuel, comprising the steps of:
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(a) fermenting a biomass with a microorganism or a mutagen thereof to produce a mixture of metabolites comprising acetone and butanol; (b) separating the acetone from butanol and any ethanol or other solvents in the mixture by fractional distillation; (c) dimerizing a portion of resultant acetone from step (b) to form isopentane; (d) trimerizing another portion of the acetone from step (b) using a catalyst containing at least one metal selected from the group consisting of niobium, iron, and manganese to form mesitylene, and (e) mixing the mesitylene with the isopentane from steps (c) and (d), whereby to form the biomass-derived high-octane fuel. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 34)
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16. A method of producing biomass derived high-octane fuel, comprising the steps of:
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(a) fermenting a biomass with a microorganism or a mutagen thereof to produce a mixture of metabolites comprising ethanol, (b) carrying out a dehydration reaction of ethanol in the presence of a zinc oxide catalyst on a calcium base at elevated temperatures of about 350°
C. and at elevated pressures, and(c) cooling vapors from the dehydration reaction to condense water and separate unreacted ethanol to acetone through distillation to form the resultant mesitylene. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19, 20, 35)
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21. A method of producing biomass derived high-octane fuel is provided, comprising the steps of:
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(a) growing saccharophagus degradans, strain 2-40, in a first portion of plant material; (c) harvesting protein from saccharophagus degradans, strain 2-40 from the first portion of plant material; (d) mixing the protein with a second portion of the plant material and yeast in an aqueous mixture, thereby producing ethanol; (e) converting the ethanol in whole or in part to acetone; (f) separating the acetone from any remaining ethanol and/or other byproducts; (g) dimerizing a portion of the acetone from step (f) to form isopentane; (h) trimerizing another portion of the acetone from step (f) using a catalyst containing at least one metal selected from the group consisting of niobium, iron, and manganese to form mesitylene, and (i) mixing the mesitylene with the isopentane from steps (c) and (d), whereby to form the biomass-derived high-octane fuel. - View Dependent Claims (22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33)
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Specification