Refining India June 2026 Issue

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CO2 release while enhancing photoconversion of released CO2. Synhelion’s Sun-to-Liquid technology uses solar energy to convert CO2, biomethane, and water into syngas and subsequently into syncrude via FT synthesis, which can be refined into renewable kerosene, diesel, and gasoline.7 Synhelion has successfully integrated its Sun- to-Liquid technology platform ‘DAWN’ that demonstrates its technologies on an industrial scale, validating its readiness for large-scale deployment. The world’s first industrial-scale solar fuel plant consists of a solar tower, solar receiver, thermochemical reactor, electric heater, and thermal energy storage system that enables cost-efficient solar fuel production around the clock. This industrial-scale demo plant is claimed to have been fully operational since June 2024 and produces several thousand litres of solar fuel per year, which has largely de-risked the technology and demonstrated its readiness for scale-up to commercial production levels (TRL 8). Aether Fuels’ thermochemical ‘syngas generation engine’ – electrified Tri-Converter – improves and streamlines the process where feedstocks (biogas, industrial off-gases, captured CO2, and green H2) and the internally recycled downstream byproducts are converted into syngas.8 This is achieved via novel catalysts and a reactor that uses renewable electricity instead of fossil fuels to generate the reaction heat. The Tri-Converter is best described as an electrified catalytic reforming reactor combining rWGS, steam methane reforming (SMR), and/ or dry reforming of methane and the conversion of recycled light hydrocarbons (C1-C4) from a downstream FT unit in a single intensified reactor to produce FT-grade syngas of desired H2/CO ratio from mixed carbon streams (CO₂, CH₄, CO, H₂). Where typical syngas production requires multiple reactors to convert the same mix of inputs, the Aether Aurora process employs just one. The streamlined equipment configuration reduces Capex, while the electrification innovations generate higher energy efficiency and yields than a conventional combustion reactor. In 2025, the company successfully built, operated, and validated its demo-scale (1 bpd) Tri-Converter skid in collaboration with GTI Energy (TRL 6).

Oxidation

2HO + CO

FeO/CeO

Fe 3 O 4 /CeO

Optimum operating window for the CL-DRM

2H + CO

CeFeO

2H + CO

Fe/CeO

FeC/CeO

Reduction

Figure 2 CL-DRM – redox concept schematic

for its first commercial-scale plant, which will produce 100 kt/year e-methanol.5 DACCU flow reactor and Tri-Converter This recent technology, currently under lab-scale research and development (TRL 2/3) stage, is conceptualised on the basis of an integrated gas-phase dual-bed direct air carbon capture and utilisation (DACCU) flow reactor that produces syngas (CO + H2) through on-site use of CO2 from DAC using sunlight without requiring high temperature or pressure.6 The reactor consists of a bed of solid silica-amine adsorbent to capture the CO2 and produce CO2-free air. Concentrated sunlight is used to release the captured CO2 and convert it to syngas over a bed of a silica/alumina-titania-cobalt bis(terpyridine) molecular semiconductor photocatalyst. The dual-bed DACCU reactor operates in a diurnal cycle, where CO2 is chemically captured from the air during the nighttime while letting the other gases (for example, N 2 and O2) pass through. The captured CO2 is released as a concentrated stream during the daytime to be photochemically converted into synthesis gas. DAC of CO2 is enabled by a solid-phase silica-polyamine CO2 adsorber that desorbs the captured CO2 at elevated temperatures (80-100°C) provided by photothermal solar heating. A parabolic trough solar collector is utilised to concentrate sunlight to heat the adsorbent for efficient

Refining India