New Honeywell Technology To Help Produce Sustainable Aviation Fuel With Lower Cost, Waste

Honeywell has announced that its latest hydrocracking technology can be used to produce sustainable aviation fuel from biomass. The company said the technology can help produce more SAF and make it less carbon intensive than traditional fossil-based jet fuels, enabling cost reduction and less byproduct waste as compared to other hydroprocessing technologies.

According to the company, its Fischer-Tropsch Unicracking technology takes liquids and waxes from processed biomass—including leftovers from crops, wood waste or food scraps—and can be used to produce SAF that complies with aviation standards and with a lower environmental impact.

"As demand for SAF continues to grow, the aviation industry is challenged by limited supplies of traditional SAF feedstocks, such as vegetable oils, animal fats and waste oils," Ken West, chief executive officer of Honeywell Energy and Sustainability Solutions, said.

"When combined with the existing Fischer-Tropsch process, our new technology will expand the feedstock options available in the industry to sources that are more plentiful, ultimately helping improve our customers' ability to produce SAF," West said.

Honeywell said its technology has been selected for biofuel manufacturing for DG Fuels and will produce 13,000 barrels of SAF per day upon commencement of operations. Honeywell has been producing SAF commercially since 2016 using its eco-fining process. The company now offers solutions across feedstocks to meet the growing demand for renewable fuels.

According to the company, more than 50 sites globally have licenced its SAF technologies, with refineries projected to exceed a combined capacity of more than 500,000 barrels of SAF per day.