In Texas, Southwest Research Institute said it produced a batch of blended sustainable aviation fuel through a refinery process that started with electrofuels or e-fuels made from carbon dioxide and green hydrogen.
Using internal research funding, a multidisciplinary team produced and characterized the SAF, along with two other commercially available fuels, before collecting emissions and particulate data to support the aviation industry’s emissions goals.
“Aviation is difficult to decarbonize due to the fuel density and power required for flight,” said Francesco Di Sabatino, a group leader in SwRI’s Mechanical Engineering Division. “With this project we’re gathering important data for conventional fuel and two different SAFs.”
Through a series of hydroprocessing reactions over several weeks, process engineers refined the e-fuel into SAF to meet federal specifications. They engineered a small batch — about one barrel of fuel — to characterize and test fuels prior to commercialization.
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