Conversion of waste to sustainable aviation fuel via Fischer–Tropsch synthesis: Front‐end design decisions

Abstract Front‐end design decisions for a process to produce sustainable aviation turbine fuel from waste materials were presented. The design employs distributed conversion of wastes to oils, which are then transported to a central facility for gasification, syngas cleaning, Fischer–Tropsch synthesis and refining, that is, a spoke‐and‐hub approach. Different aspects of the front‐end design, that is, the steps up to syngas cleaning, were evaluated. The evaluation employed a combination of case studies, calculations, experimental investigations, and literature review. The supply of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) as a 50:50 mixture of waste‐derived and petroleum‐derived kerosene to meet the demand of an international airport (Pearson, Toronto) was employed as case study. The amount of raw material required made it impractical to make use of only one type of waste. Using the same set of assumptions, it was shown that in terms of cumulative transport distance required, a spoke‐and‐hub approach was twice as efficient as centralized processing only. Technologies for decentralized production of oils were assessed, and oils produced by pyrolysis and hydrothermal liquefaction (HTL) in pilot‐scale and larger facilities were procured and characterized. These oils were within the broader compositional space of pyrolysis oils and HTL oils reported in laboratory studies. The oil compositions were employed to study the impact of oil composition on entrained flow gasification. Thermodynamic equilibrium calculations of pyrolysis and HTL oil entrained flow gasification resulted in H2/CO ratios of syngas and O2 consumption rates in a narrow range, despite the diversity of feeds. At the same time, to produce an equal molar amount of syngas (H2 + CO), less HTL oil than pyrolysis oil was required as feed. Gas cleaning technologies were reviewed to ascertain types of contaminants anticipated after gasification, their removal effectiveness, and Fischer–Tropsch catalyst poisoning potential. Raw syngas cleaning requirements were comparable to that from coal gasification.