An integrated process for production of jet-fuel range olefins from ethylene using Ni-AlSBA-15 and Amberlyst-35 catalysts

An integrated process for the production of jet-fuel range olefins from ethylene was established by combining oligomerization of ethylene over the bifunctional Ni-AlSBA-15 catalyst with subsequent co-oligomerization of the liquid oligomer mixture over an Amberlyst-35 ion-exchange resin catalyst. The mesoporous Ni-AlSBA-15 catalyst was prepared by alumination of SBA-15 using sodium aluminate, followed by sequential ion exchange with NH 4 + and Ni 2+ ions. The Ni-AlSBA-15 (1.9 wt% Ni and Si/Al = 9) catalyst showed good catalytic activity, yielding over 99% ethylene conversion with non-Schulz-Flory type distribution of the generated hydrocarbons (C 8  > C 6  > C 4  > C 10+ ) and high stability at 200 °C and 10 bar at a weight hourly space velocity of 0.375 h −1 for 60 h. Co-oligomerization of the as-synthesized liquid oligomer mixture over Amberlyst-35 ion-exchange resin under the optimized reaction conditions (5 wt% catalyst loading, 100 °C, 30 bar N 2 , and 24 h of reaction time) generated greater than 98% C 5+ liquid product, where the C 10+ olefins constituted about 42%. The catalytic activity of the Amberlyst-35 catalyst used was almost identical to that of the fresh catalyst after washing with n -heptane and drying.