Decarbonisation Technology November 2026 issue

From CO 2 to SAF

A gas-to-liquid pathway converts industrial waste gas and cleans hydrogen into SAF-range hydrocarbons through CCC technologies and Fischer-Tropsch synthesis

Nabeel Ataimisch ZCT Solutions

A viation is one of the hardest sectors to decarbonise. Unlike road transport, it cannot be easily electrified, which places enormous pressure on liquid drop-in fuels that match the energy density, combustion behaviour, and supply chain of kerosene. Sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) meets this requirement from a chemical perspective. However, its commercial future hinges on a single economic question: can SAF be produced at a cost and quality that compete with crude- derived jet fuel, without permanent subsidy dependence? ZCT’s answer is to stop treating industrial waste as a disposal problem and start treating it as a feedstock. Refineries, steel plants, and process industries continuously emit CO₂-rich flue gas and produce solid residues that are costly to manage and represent lost carbon value. By capturing and converting this waste stream, rather than sourcing fresh carbon, ZCT’s pathway shortens the supply chain, reduces feedstock cost volatility, and directly displaces fossil carbon entering the atmosphere. Technology pathway: From waste gas to SAF The pathway integrates four technology blocks into a single continuous process, each engineered for heat and carbon efficiency rather

(CCC) technologies capture CO₂ directly from industrial flue gas streams. Unlike carbon capture and storage (CCS), CCC is designed as a capture-and-convert system. The captured carbon is conditioned and routed directly into the synthesis loop rather than sequestered underground. The CCC unit is currently advancing through pilot-scale operation, validating capture efficiency, gas conditioning, and integration with downstream synthesis under real industrial flue gas compositions rather than synthetic test gas. Clean hydrogen from flue gas conversion The ZCT team has developed a flue gas conversion technology that produces clean hydrogen (H₂) as the second core input. Generating H₂ from the same waste stream infrastructure rather than importing hydrogen separately keeps CO₂ and H₂ logistics tightly coupled, reducing transport emissions and capital duplication. This clean H₂ is the reactive partner that drives the downstream CO₂ hydrogenation chemistry. CO₂ hydrogenation and gas-to-liquid conversion Captured CO₂ reacts with clean H₂ in a gas-to- liquid (GTL) conversion sequence. This step is the chemical heart of the process. It transforms

than retrofitted from legacy petrochemical design (see Figure 1 ).

SAF (jet-range)

Industrial waste gas & solids

CCC carbon capture conversion

Clean H from ue gas conversion

CO + H gas-to-liquid conversion

Cold-catalyst Fischer-Tropsch (C1 – C16)

Carbon capture and conversion technologies

Figure 1 ZCT waste-to-SAF process pathway, from industrial waste gas through carbon capture conversion, clean hydrogen generation, and cold- catalyst Fischer-Tropsch synthesis to jet-range SAF

At the front end, carbon capture and conversion