At Shell in Amsterdam, SAF is being further refined
“Sweet sixteen” ribbons were festively cut on 12 March in the ETCA laboratory. A new set-up now makes it possible to test simultaneously in 16 reactors whether Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) can be produced better – and possibly with reduced costs. Such an advanced installation is “sweet” for scientists. To be clear: the set-up’s core are nano‑reactors for liquids. Put simply, they are a kind of small tubes through which ultra‑thin streams of liquid can be guided along or through different materials (catalysts — more on those in a moment). This small-scale system makes everything far more efficient and prevents waste: each test requires only a tiny amount of fuel and produces less waste.
Smaller than a city bus
To avoid any misunderstanding: the 16 reactors in the SAF test installation, designed and built by Shell spin‑off Avantium, are nothing like nuclear reactors. There is no danger whatsoever, and certainly no radioactivity. In terms of size, too, they bear no resemblance to those large nuclear installations. The liquid‑testing set‑up — its technology is called Flowrence — is narrower and shorter than an ordinary city bus: 2 metres (6.6 feet) wide and 7 metres (23 feet) long.
Erwin van der Geer, Manager of the Shell research team that designs and carries out the experiments, says:
We test improvements in the processing of blended bio‑materials to make them suitable for aviation fuel,
“The better our catalysts can process the bio‑material, the easier it becomes to blend it with conventional kerosene to make aviation more sustainable.”
Making SAF with “chocolate sprinkles”
The catalyst is a material that enables a chemical conversion. For the SAF test set‑up, this material consists of granules. “A bit like chocolate sprinkles,” Van der Geer jokes. The process may sound complicated, but for the technically minded he explains it as follows:
“Aviation fuel is made at the refinery through hydro processing. This increases the branching of molecules in the raw fuel and converts oxygen atoms into water. The more bio-components that are present in the fuel, the more water is formed. Together with other components such as nitrogen compounds and chloride, this can cause corrosion.”
In other words: the produced liquid can affect steel tubes and pipes, among other things. The new test set‑up is therefore made of special resistant material. Once produced and stripped of by‑products, SAF is safe to use and has been extensively tested by aircraft manufacturers and airlines.
Vegetable oil
So, what exactly is the bio-component in SAF? “Vegetable oil,” says Van der Geer. This oil can be made from agricultural products, but also from used cooking oil sourced from your local chip shop.
Van der, Geer:
The advantage of blending SAF with kerosene is that it’s a relatively straightforward way to make aviation a bit more sustainable.
”Refineries don’t need to make major changes to their facilities. You must, of course, be absolutely certain that the resulting aviation fuel performs well, including under extremely cold conditions. That’s why testing is so important.”
Lower costs could mean lower SAF prices
The new SAF test installation in the ETCA lab can test sixteen catalysts at once to see which performs better, and which might, for example, reduce production costs for a refinery. If those costs can come down, the price of SAF could decrease, making it even more attractive for airlines to safely blend more SAF.
Van der Geer, says:
We expect the first results by the end of this year,
“If successful, the catalyst can be scaled up to a full installation at a Shell refinery or at other companies.”
READ the latest news shaping the biofuels market at Biofuels Central
At Shell in Amsterdam, SAF is being further refined
