Synthesis of 1-Hexanol/Hexyl hexanoate Mixtures from Grape Pomace: Insights on Diesel Engine Performances at High Bio-Blendstock Loadings

The production of oxygenated bio-additives for traditional fuels represents a key challenge due to their depletion in the near-future and positive contribution reduction environmental pollution. present study considers synthesis 1-hexanol/hexyl hexanoate mixtures, two Diesel produced through hydrogenation hexanoic acid, obtainable from fermentation wide variety waste biomasses. In our case, crude acid was grape pomace, an abundant Italian agrifood waste. Commercial 5 wt% Re/γ-Al2O3 adopted catalytic support acidity allowed tuning reaction selectivity toward formation hexyl hexanoate, instead 1-hexanol, reaching yields 40 25 mol%, respectively. effects each bio-additive on engine performance exhaust emissions (soot, nitrogen oxides, carbon monoxide, unburned hydrocarbons) were evaluated, highlighting noteworthy especially monoxide soot emissions, if compared with those fuel alone. Similar promising performances achieved by employing blend mixtures mimicking typical compositions rhenium-catalyzed post-hydrogenation mixtures. Even such cases, can be blended commercial fuel, up high loadings currently not yet investigated (20 vol%), without altering and, again, significantly lowering more than 40%. This work highlights possibility obtaining starting fully sustainable process proves beneficial no changes performance.