Decarbonisation Technology - May 2023 Issue

By 2035

2050 - 4.5 million tonnes per annum

£2.7 billion t otal gr oss v alue a dded to the UK

Up to 14 operational plants creating 5,200 jobs

2040 - 1.6 million tonnes per annum 2035 - 1.0 million tonnes per annum

£550 million net value to the UK’s balance of payments

Up to 13,600 jobs created in UK sustainable fuel innovation and exports

UK sustainable jet fuel potential RTFO development fuels target to 2032

Carbon capture technologies, algae

Technologies converting solid and liquid wastes & indu s trial waste gases 2035-onwards Evolution of sustainable fuel technologies

2019-25

Figure 1 SAF roadmap UK (Sustainable Aviation, 2020)

wax product via thermo-catalytic processes, including Fischer–Tropsch (FT). The wax is then hydrocracked to produce a mix of gaseous and liquid hydrocarbons, which can be fractionated to form aviation fuel, gasoline, diesel, and other products. When syngas is produced from biomass or waste, it may be converted into low-carbon liquid fuels, creating a sustainable fuel source with substantial potential for emission reduction. In the same spirit, the RDF feedstock in the Protos Biofuels Syncrude process is gasified to produce a stream of syngas containing predominantly hydrogen (H 2 ) and carbon monoxide (CO). Advanced Biofuels Solutions (ABSL) RadGas gasification technology was selected as the RDF gasification process for the syncrude synthesis. It produces a relatively clean syngas by breaking down the tar formed in gasification via a two- stage process. For conversion of syngas to syncrude, a gas-to-liquids process using an FT reaction mechanism with negligible wax production was chosen from among the various FT technologies that were reviewed to avoid the need for a hydrocracker to break down the wax prior to refining. The Protos Biofuel Syncrude process has flexibility in modifying the process conditions for FT technology to increase the yield of SAF components at the expense of other fractions but with a higher Capex. A middle-road design of optimised Capex vs SAF production

capacity was chosen. As an estimate, from a feedstock of around 152,000 tonnes of refuse- derived fuel per annum, approximately 11,000 tonnes of syncrude can be produced with a high yield of SAF. Key aspects of Protos Biofuels Syncrude process The Protos Biofuels Syncrude process has four essential steps to produce syncrude, with two additional ancillary steps for handling emissions and effluents. These are listed below and represented in Figure 2 . Essential steps are: • Refuse derived fuel (RDF) feedstock reception from suppliers and processing for contaminants removal • RadGas gasification unit with syngas gas clean-up and compression • Gas-to-liquids unit employing FT process • Syncrude stabilisation. Ancillary steps include: • CO 2 capture, treatment, and export for sequestration • Wastewater treatment and disposal. Feedstock processing The nature of RDF is such that the feedstock varies in quality across batches, even from the same supplier or within the same batch. Variations, specifically the composition in terms