It is imperative to develop more efficient processes for conversion of
biomass to liquid fuels, such that the cost of these fuels would be competitive with the cost of fuels
derived from
petroleum. We report a
catalytic approach for the conversion of
carbohydrates to specific classes of
hydrocarbons for use as
liquid transportation fuels, based on the integration of several
flow reactors operated in a cascade mode, where the effluent from the one reactor is simply fed to the next reactor. This approach can be tuned for production of branched
hydrocarbons and
aromatic compounds in
gasoline, or longer chain, less highly branched
hydrocarbons in
diesel and jet fuels. The
liquid organic effluent from the first
flow reactor contains mono-functional compounds, such as
alcohols,
ketones,
carboxylic acids, and
heterocycles, that can also be used to provide
reactive intermediates for
fine chemicals and
polymers markets.
