Catalytic oligomerization of isobutyl alcohol to jet fuels over dealuminated zeolite Beta

• A new way to direct conversion of isobutyl alcohol to jet-range hydrocarbons. • We used dealuminization method to effectively adjust the pore structure and acidity of Beta zeolite. • The increased ratio of Lewis/Bronsted acidic sites was promoted the oligomerization reaction to form jet fuels. Various dealuminum methods of zeolite Beta to generate the jet fuels by converting isobutyl alcohol has been investigated in detail. And related factors of the zeolite catalyst such as acid site, pore structure, and pore size which can influence reactive activity, were also studied utilizing XRD, SEM, XRF, Nitrogen adsorption-desorption, NH 3 -TPD, Py-FTIR, and 27 Al solid-state NMR. Removal of extra-framework aluminum or part of framework aluminum by hydrochloric acid dealumination, is able to improve the diffusion property of the products in the channel of zeolite Beta via increasing the ratio of Lewis/Brønsted. Consequently, isobutyl alcohol can be quantitatively oligomerized over dealuminated zeolite Beta with the selectivity of C 8−16 exceeding 50 % at a conversion of 98 %. Moreover, the deactivated catalyst can be easily regenerated by calcining it in flowing air. High conversion, high jet fuels selectivity, and facile regeneration make it an attractive potential catalyst for isobutyl alcohol oligomerization reaction.