Honeywell touts its FT Unicracking™ technology for SAF production

Honeywell announced April 24 that its hydrocracking technology can be used to produce sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) from biomass, helping to make SAF that is 90 percent less carbon intensive than traditional fossil-based jet fuels.

“The new technology produces 3 percent to 5 percent more SAF, enables a cost reduction of up to 20 percent and reduces byproduct waste streams as compared to other commonly used hydroprocessing technologies,” Honeywell stated.

Honeywell’s Fischer-Tropsch Unicracking™ technology takes liquids and waxes from processed biomass, including leftovers from crops, wood waste or food scraps, to produce SAF that complies with the strict standards of the aviation industry and with a lower environmental impact.

According to Honeywell, this innovation demonstrates the company’s alignment of its portfolio with three compelling megatrends, including the energy transition.

“As demand for SAF continues to grow, the aviation industry is challenged by limited supplies of traditional SAF feedstocks such as vegetable oils, animal fats and waste oils,” said Ken West, president and CEO of Honeywell Energy and Sustainability Solutions.

“When combined with the existing Fischer-Tropsch process, our new technology will expand the feedstock options available in the industry to sources that are more plentiful, ultimately helping improve our customers’ ability to produce SAF,” West added.

Recently, DG Fuels selected Honeywell’s FT Unicracking technology for its biofuels manufacturing facility in Louisiana—the largest in the world for making SAF from the FT process—that will produce 13,000 barrels (546,000 gallons) of SAF a day when it begins operations in 2028.

“Using Honeywell’s advanced technology, DG Fuels will supply enough fuel for more than 30,000 transatlantic flights every year, contributing significantly to reducing the carbon emissions of global air travel,” said Michael Darcy, CEO of DG Fuels.

“This is a big leap forward in supporting the airline industry’s goal of reaching net-zero carbon emissions from international aviation by 2050,” Darcy stated.

Honeywell helped pioneer SAF production with its Ecofining™ process, which has been used to produce the fuel commercially since 2016.

The company noted that it now offers solutions across a range of feedstocks to meet the rapidly growing demand for renewable fuels, including SAF.

In addition to Honeywell Unicracking and Ecofining, Honeywell’s renewable fuels portfolio includes ethanol-to-jet technology and eFining™, which converts green hydrogen and carbon dioxide into eFuels.

More than 50 sites globally have licensed Honeywell’s SAF technologies, with refineries projected to exceed a combined capacity of more than 500,000 barrels (21 million gallons) of SAF per day when fully operational.