AliphaJet, a joint venture between Unitel Technologies and SynGest, has developed a new catalytic technology to produce jet biofuel from renewable materials.
BoxCar catalytic de-oxygenation process is the new technology that considerably decreases capital and operating costs as it does not need hydrogen to eliminate oxygen from feedstock. The use of this technology saves capital and processing costs in several areas: zero variable costs for costly hydrogen production, reduction in capital costs because processing plants are less complex and reduction in logistics and transportation costs as AliphaJet’s facilities can be located in the regions, where renewable inputs are manufactured.
AliphaJet’s catalytic de-oxygenation process delivers major OPEX and CAPEX benefits over the competing technologies. This innovative process removes 100% of oxygen easily by eliminating the need for expensive and complex hydrotreating method. AliphaJet supports the aim of the U.S. Navy to replace 50% of liquid fuels with renewable products by 2020.
The company has successfully produced 100% renewable drop-in jet biofuel from animal fats and plant-based oils using the cost-effective catalytic method. The BoxCar process can also be used to produce renewable diesel fuel, gasoline and hydrocarbon molecules. Renewable feedstocks can be derived from animal processing, plants or rising oil production sources such as genetically modified organisms and algae. Southwest Research Institute has tested a few samples of jet biofuel and its performance met or surpassed D-1655 requirements related to sulphur levels, smoke point, freezing point and net heat of combustion.
Source: http://www.aliphajet.com/