Oriented conversion of γ-Valerolactone to gasoline range fuels via integrated catalytic system

[Display omitted] •Oriented transformation of GVL into gasoline fuels was achieved.•Nano-HZSM-5 with adjusting acidity and pore structure was designed.•Small particle sizes facilitated fast diffusion of reactants and products in the pore channels.•Reducing acid sites on external surface promoted the formation of C5+ hydrocarbons. γ-Valerolactone (GVL) is one of a promising and versatile platform compounds, derived from renewable biomass, that could be widely used as key raw materials for the production of high value-added chemicals and energy fuels. Here, we report the oriented transformation of GVL into gasoline range hydrocarbons through an integrated two-stage fixed-bed catalytic system. The catalytic upgrading strategy involved the GVL feeds converting to butene isomers mixture and CO2 by ring-opening and decarboxylation without use of external H2 over SiO2-Al2O3 catalyst, coupled with the oligomerization of butene isomers intermediates to gasoline fuels over the nano-HZSM-5 catalyst. This integrated two-stage processes could greatly simplify the products separation, avoid the incompatibility of their reaction conditions, and effectively improve the catalytic stability. The selectivity and yield for target C5−12 gasoline range fuels was high as 82.2 % and 58.7 %, respectively, and no obvious deactivation was observed with time on stream of 50 h.