Honeywell and Wood have announced a comprehensive package of technologies to support the effort to produce carbon-neutral aviation fuel.
Based on Honeywell's UOP Ecofining process technology and Wood's hydrogen plant technology, the fuel could reduce lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) by 100% using certain feedstocks compared to traditional petroleum aviation fuel.
Recently, the US Department of Energy (DOE), the US Department of Transportation (DOT), the US Department of Agriculture (USDA), and other federal government agencies worked together to introduce the Sustainable Aviation Fuel Grand Challenge to produce three billion gallons per year of sustainable aviation fuel by 2030 in the US. If those 3 billion gallons of SAF were produced using Honeywell's comprehensive package of technologies, it could result in the equivalent of 34 million metric tons of cumulative carbon dioxide avoided per year, depending on the oil and fat feedstock mix used.
According to the company, its UOP Ecofining process technology converts waste oils, fats, and greases into Honeywell Green Jet Fuel, a drop-in replacement for jet fuel. When using a feedstock such as used cooking oils, lifecycle GHG emissions can be reduced by 80% at this stage compared to conventional petroleum jet fuel.
As the next step in enhancing the Ecofining process technology offering, Wood's technology will be integrated to use the byproducts of the UOP Ecofining process technology to produce renewable hydrogen, reducing lifecycle GHG emissions a further 10% when compared to the total GHG emissions produced by conventional petroleum jet fuel. The renewable hydrogen is then injected back into the Honeywell Ecofining process to remove feed impurities and create a cleaner-burning renewable fuel.
The carbon dioxide (CO2) generated from the hydrogen production can be captured and routed for permanent underground sequestration using the Honeywell H2 Solutions technology suite, further reducing lifecycle GHG emissions an additional 10% when compared to the total GHG emissions produced by conventional petroleum jet fuel. In addition, the combination of technologies results in an aviation fuel that is effectively carbon neutral compared to petroleum fuels, the company said.
Ben Owens, Vice President & General Manager, Honeywell Sustainable Technology Solutions, said, 'The combination of these technologies from Honeywell and Wood greatly reduces fossil carbon dioxide emissions compared to traditional fuels by using byproducts to provide hydrogen for the Ecofining process. As a result, a renewable fuels refinery can be essentially self-sustaining in hydrogen production while reducing the carbon intensity of the renewable fuels to very low levels.'
Andy Hemingway, President, Energy, Optimisation, and Innovation, Wood, said, 'This solution utilises our long-established experience in hydrogen plant technology to help fuel producers reduce operating costs while meeting sustainability goals with proven, reliable and efficient technologies.'