Axens
- Feb 24, 2023
- 3 min read

Axens launches Jetanol™ brand for its alcohol-to-jet technology

Axens announced Feb. 23 the launch of the Jetanol™ brand for its alcohol-to-jet (ATJ) technology.

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 more than 460 million gallons per year (mgy).

“Starting from any type of low-carbon alcohol, Jetanol™ is the 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,” Axens stated.

The Jetanol™ project pipeline also includes feasibility studies and conceptual-engineering efforts with a cumulative production capacity of more than 500 mgy of SAF, for a total capacity approaching 1 billion gallons per year of SAF.

This recent wave of projects is triggered by the net-zero commitments by 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) programs in the EU, U.S. 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 for long-term unit support.

In the U.S., 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 and renewable systems-integration approach coupled with Axens Jetanol™ technology.

“Axens is the commercially proven technology to convert alcohols into hydrocarbons,” said Chris Ryan, president of Gevo. “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.”

Axens’ Jetanol™ technology has also been selected by Idemitsu for its first SAF project in Japan.

“Axens is the only supplier able to provide technology, catalysts and associated services including domestic technical support,” said Junzo Yamamoto, executive officer of manufacturing and technology for Idemitsu. “We are thrilled to collaborate with Axens and we are looking forward for a long-term partnership.”

Jacques Rault, Axens’ executive vice president of technology and technical support, added, “These technologies were developed and de-risked to reach maturity over the course of the last 10 to 30-plus years. We are honored 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-oligomerization experience with over 100 commercial-scale units.”

Among the seven pathways currently certified under the ASTM D7566 specification for synthetic kerosene to be blended into Jet A1 pool, Axens provides mature technologies for the three main pathways:

Vegan® is a flexible solution to produce SAF but also renewable diesel through the hydrotreatment of a wide range of lipids (HVO). SAF can also be produced by coprocessing those lipids into existing refining assets.

BioTfueL® (gasification plus Fischer-Tropsch) technology unlocks SAF and renewable fuels production from lignocellulosic biomass via a thermochemical pathway