A series of high density renewable fuels have been synthesized through the action of heterogeneous acid catalysts on pure solutions of a-pinene, �-pinene, camphene, and limonene. The net heats of combustion (NHOC) for the various dimer mixtures ranged from 137,000 to 142,000 Btu/gal.  Camphene dimer mixtures had the highest NHOC due to their superior density, while the limonene dimer mixture had the lowest NHOC due to the more linear nature of the products.  The viscosities (40 �C) of the a-pinene, �-pinene and camphene products were virtually identical at 35 cSt , while the less compact limonene dimers had a viscosity of 26 cSt.  As opposed to previous studies, catalysts with relatively low Hammet acidities were shown to be effective only when utilized with mixed terpene reagents.  This unusual reactivity suggests a sterically controlled mechanism based on the initial coordination of specific terpenes.

New routes to renewable high density fuels

241st National Meeting (2011)

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