Committed to offering mature and reliable sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) technologies, Axens has announced the launch of the JetanolTM brand for its alcohol-to-jet technology. Evidenced by its competitive selection, this solution is being deployed for five industrial-scale projects that are now in the advanced stages of engineering and/or early phases of construction, with cumulative SAF production capacity of over 1.4 million t (460 million gal.)/yr.
Starting from any type of low-carbon alcohol, Jetanol is a single-supplier, shovel-ready, end-to-end technology and catalyst solution that forms the bridge between the aviation industry’s commitment to a low-carbon future and sustainable feedstock providers.
The Jetanol project pipeline also includes feasibility studies and conceptual engineering efforts with a cumulative production capacity of over 1.5 million t (500 million gal.)/yr of SAF, for a total capacity approaching 3 million t (1 billion gal.)/yr of SAF.
This recent wave of projects is triggered by net zero commitments in the aviation industry and consumer demand, in addition to national cleaner energy initiatives including the RED-III, Inflation Reduction Act, and New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO) programmes in the EU, US, and Japan, respectively.
Axens is licensing Jetanol globally, with some region-specific partnerships and licensing approaches to support the SAF industry. In all regions, Axens is supporting projects with a robust network of its own engineers, operations experts, worldwide catalyst manufacturing plants and tailor-made modular solutions, ensuring reliable project execution and a commitment to long-term unit support.
In the US, the Strategic ETJ Alliance formed in 2021 between Axens and Gevo Inc. offers industrial partners a complete value proposition from 'farm-to-flight' via Gevo’s Net-Zero Integration Technology, and Verity Tracking (a carbon tracking solution), carbon tracking and renewable systems integration approach coupled with Axens Jetanol technology.
Dr. Chris Ryan, President of Gevo, said: “Axens is the commercially proven technology to convert alcohols into hydrocarbons. They already know and understand the catalysts and operability of the conversion technologies. When combined with our knowledge of integration, bioprocessing, renewable energy, and agricultural systems, net zero footprint fuels are enabled.”
Other recent projects include:
- The achievement by Axens of the Guranteed Performance of its first Ethano-to-Ehylene Atol® plant with Sumitomo Chemical in Japan.
- The selection of Axens’ Jetanol technology by Idemitsu for its first SAF project in Japan.
Junzo Yamamoto, Executive Officer Manufacturing & Technology of Idemitsu, said: “Axens is the only supplier able to provide technology, catalysts and associated services including domestic technical support. We are thrilled to collaborate with Axens and we are looking forward for a long-term partnership!”
Jacques Rault, Axens Executive Vice President Technology & Technical Support, said: “These technologies were developed and de-risked to reach maturity over the course of the last 10 – 30+ years. We are honoured by the selection of our Jetanol technology by mature industry players, applying robust technical screening processes, and who are ready to build at scale – now. The trust they place in us demonstrates that they value our long-term commitment to develop new, advanced alcohol dehydration technologies and combine them with decades of light olefins oligomerisation experience (over 100 commercial-scale units).”