Production of jet fuel intermediates from furfural and acetone by aldol condensation over MgO/NaY

MgO/NaY catalyst was prepared by a simple and green procedure and used in the aldol condensation of furfural and acetone to produce jet fuel intermediates in a water-ethanol solvent; the effects of MgO loading, feedstock composition, reaction temperature and time on the product distribution were investigated. The results indicated that the 20% MgO/NaY catalyst performs best in the aldol reaction; the conversion of furfural reaches 99.6% after reaction at 85°C for 8 h, while the selectivities to furfural-acetone (FA) and di-furfural-acetone (F2A) are 42.2% and 57.1%, respectively, with a yield of condensation products of 98.6%. High temperature may enhance the degradation of F3A2 intermediate and therefore improves the selectivity to aldol products. The product distribution can be adjusted by changing the feedstock composition; the selectivity to F2A increases with the increase of the ratio of furfural to acetone, at the expense of a slight decrease of the reaction rate. The spent catalyst shows a good regeneration capability; its catalytic activity is well recovered after calcination treatment.