Kerosene from hydrocracking for JET fuel with reduced aromatic content

Kerosene from the hydrocracking is commonly used to produce JET fuel. Depending on the deactivation of the catalyst, the aromatic content of such kerosene increases to a level where it can no longer be used for JET fuel production. The objective of this study was to determine whether the aromatic content of kerosene from hydrocracking can be reduced under the conditions used for hydrotreating straight-run middle distillates. The kerosene obtained from a real hydrocracker unit was investigated in a laboratory fixed-bed unit packed with a Ni-Mo/Al2O3 catalyst. Aromatics content was analyzed utilizing ASTM D6379 (HPLC). As a result of the hydrogenation, the aromatic content was reduced from 22.6 to 14.5 wt.% (3 MPa) and 3.0 wt.% (6 MPa). The product contained 60-70 wt.% cycloalkanes. The smoke point was improved by 3.3 mm (3 MPa) up to 9.7 mm (6 MPa), and the cetane index by 1.1 or 3.9 units, respectively. The (H/C)(at) ratio in kerosene increased from 1.89 to 1.98. Furthermore, no significant cracking occurred during the hydrogenation. Overall, we demonstrate that the aromatic content of such kerosene can be very well controlled by downstream hydrogenation under conditions common in oil refineries for the desulfurization of middle distillates.