Manufacturing of Coal-Based Synthetic Jet Fuels Interchangeable with JET A-1 and T-8B Petroleum Fuels

A scheme for the combined processing of coal to produce synthetic jet fuel is proposed and experimentally verified. It has been established that using an approach including coal coking followed by gasification, Fischer–Tropsch synthesis, and hydroisomerization, the resulting kerosene fractions are characterized by low density values (0.741–0.751 kg/dm3 at 20°С) relative to the level specified by the technical requirements for Jet A-1 and T-8B jet fuel brands used today. With the use of the hydroisomerization process (Т = 330–345°С, pH2 = 72 bar) in the presence of a 2% Pt/Al-HMS (10) catalyst, it has been possible to obtain an isoparaffin fraction with the crystallization temperature below −56°С. The coal tar produced by coking of coal was subjected to deep hydrogenation to obtain a naphthenic jet fuel component characterized by the boiling range of 150–250°С, a density of about 0.873 kg/dm3 (20°С), and low sulfur and aromatics contents (3 ppm and 23 wt %, respectively). By compounding the isoparaffin and naphthenic fractions produced, experimental samples of synthetic jet fuels have been obtained that meet the technical requirements for Jet A-1 and T-8B fuels.