Renewable Diesel and Jet

As the transportation fuel and chemical markets require urgent shifts to meet future demands while lowering average carbon intensity of fuels and products, the use of renewable & alternative feedstocks will play an increasing role in the game tomorrow.

Axens is actively contributing to meet this future demand for Renewables & Alternatives products by providing technologies for producing high-quality middle distillates (jet fuel and diesel) and gasoline.

February 15th 2023

Video Axens BioTfueL®️ - An integrated Biomass To Liquids solution for advanced biofuels

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December 22nd 2022

Technical Article - Stepping stones on the path to sustainability

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December 21st 2022

Technical Article - Sustainable Aviation Fuel: prepare for take off

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The chemicals, road transport and aviation sectors are facing multiple challenges: reducing their dependence on petroleum resources with cost-competitive solutions and addressing today's environmental concerns - sustainability and lower greenhouse gas emissions.

Renewable lipids based fuels are an important tool to address issues raised by policies put in place in order to reduce the dependence of the transportation sector on fossil fuels and to promote the development of sustainable and low-carbon fuels.

The chemicals, road transport and aviation sectors are facing multiple challenges: reducing their dependence on petroleum resources and addressing today’s environmental concerns - sustainability and greenhouse gas emissions reduction.

Axens addresses these challenges through the offer of several technologies able to produce renewable fuels and bio-based chemicals from a wide variety of biomass feedstocks: oils & fats (renewable lipids) as well as lignocellulosic biomass (agricultural and forestry residues, energy crops, woody wastes etc.).

BioTfueL® technology suite combines in a complete and fully integrated Biomass To Liquids (BTL) chain proven technologies from key industrial partners; including Axens Gasel® technology for Fischer-Tropsch synthesis and upgrading.

Axens addresses these challenges through the offer of several technologies able to produce renewable fuels and bio-based chemicals from a wide variety of biomass feedstocks: oils & fats (renewable lipids); lignocellulosic biomass (agricultural and forestry residues, energy crops, woody wastes) and also 1G and 2G ethanol and bio-olefins.

Alcohol-to-Jet technology suite is a pathway for producing Sustainable Aviation Fuels by converting ethanol or iso-butanol.

Vegan®

Vegan® technology is a flexible solution for producing renewable diesel and jet through the hydrotreatment of a wide range of lipids.

Vegan® can be easily tuned to match the required boiling range and cold flow properties of the desired product. Producers can thus balance production from 0 to 100% between diesel or jet fuel to meet market demand.

Standalone, integrated or revamped units: Vegan® technology fits perfectly both in standalone and integrated refinery environment. Axens’ experience and customized approach help to evaluate the potential of the project.

Vegan® Feedstock

Vegan® process is able to process all kind of lipid feedstocks from vegetable oil to waste based oils. Dedicated pilot tests can be proposed for specific or unusual feedstock.

Vegan® Products

Sustainable Aviation Fuel incorporable into the Jet-A1 pool
Renewable diesel with tunable cold flow properties and high cetane
Renewable naphtha for blending in gasoline pool or as petrochemical feedstock
Renewable propane valuable as bio-LPG

Vegan® in the biorefinery

Axens can partner with World Class providers to propose comprehensive integration with surrounding units such as pretreatment and Hydrogen production unit.

Strong experience in Renewable Oils and Fats processing

Full Flexibility both in Renewable Oils & Fats feedstock, Product and Implementation

Efficient Solution for High-Quality Products and easily valorised by-products

Commercial Bulletin

Related Offer

Modular Unit

Vegan® and Co-Processing as a Combined Offer

Backed by a long history of strong R&D programs with lipidic feeds, hydroprocessing and hydrocracking technologies, Axens offers a complete range of solutions with a possible phased investment approach, from few % of co-processing up to 100% lipids upgrading.

Assets Flexibility

Feedstocks Flexibility

Product Flexibility

Commercial Bulletin

Related Offer

Unit Revamp Modular Unit

Adsorbents

Sulfur Removal Adsorbents for Biogas

Hydrogen sulfide (H2S) and light mercaptans are common contaminants that must be removed from various gases such as biogas and landfill-derived methane in particular. Such sulfur species are extremely corrosive and must be removed to meet fuel gas specifications, pipeline specifications and air quality regulations.

Furnaces

Heurtey Petrochem Solutions offer furnaces for various services with high fuel efficiency, lowest emissions and maximum modularization. Additionaly, Heurtey Petrochem Solutions offer emission reduction technology / system design for various pollutants which are integrated with furnaces and waste heat recovery units.

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Consulting

Axens offers a customized approach, including tailored studies, audits and consulting services, covering technical and operational challenges.

Unit Revamps & Retrofits

You face many challenges, which include operating in a safe, reliable and environmentally sound manner while responding to changing markets dynamics.

Modular Units

A modularization strategy offers superior benefits versus on-site manufacturing. During the last 40 years, Axens has supplied over 500 modular units, both onshore and offshore, providing tailor-made designs according to client project specifications.

Customer Training

Designed for all Axens technologies, dedicated to operators & engineers, Axens offers customized training solutions to all our licensees, covering the whole range of Axens technologies.

Technical Support & Performance Management

Axens is fully committed to be your partner and provide assistance and support during your project lifecycle, from conception to start-up & running operations.

Environmental Systems & Services

Energy efficiency awareness can lead to tremendous economic and environmental benefits. Expert studies show that there is still vast untapped energy efficiency potential of up to 25% of heavy industry in Europe alone.

Digital Applications

Innovative approach leveraging digital solutions leading to improved asset operation and performance.

Catalyst Protection Systems

Impurities, fines, gums, scales and inorganic matter can be carried over with the feed. While catalyst performance is steadily increasing due to constant innovation, they are often more sensitive to poisoning.

Reactor Internals

In today’s complex environment, refineries and petrochemical plants around the world need advanced solutions to reach operational excellence. In units featuring fixed-bed reactors, the use of high-efficiency reactor internals are essential to help achieve this goal.

BioTfueL®

BioTfueL® technology suite is a flexible solution for producing second-generation advanced biofuels (renewable diesel and sustainable aviation fuel) as well as valuable coproducts (renewable naphtha, biolubes basis, biogas, bioLPG, green power & heat etc.) through a thermochemical pathway. This technology is the result of more than 10 years of R&D including the operation of two demonstration plants, which allowed to develop and validate a complete and fully integrated 4-step Biomass To Liquids (BTL) chain:

Pretreatment: This step consists in both drying and torrefying the biomass. It aims to homogenize feedstock quality, ease the biomass final grinding into powder and increase storage stability and biomass energy density. Flexible process conditions allow to adapt to changes in biomass quality and supply strategy.
Gasification: The applied uhde® entrained-flow gasification process with direct quench (PDQ) is a high temperature partial oxidation converting carbonaceous material into tar free syngas.
Syngas Conditioning: Syngas is conditioned to Fischer-Tropsch requirement by adjusting the H₂/CO ratio via a Water Gas Shift reaction, followed by acid gas removal and a final purification.
Fischer-Tropsch Synthesis and Upgrading: Gasel® technology uses CO & H₂ building blocks to form long chains of liquid hydrocarbons. The reaction takes place in a 3-phase Slurry Bubble Column (SBC). The SBC allows perfect control of the high exothermicity and good homogeneity of the reaction. FT products are then upgraded toward the targeted products.

Highest Flexibility large panel of biomasses, possibility of co-processing with fossil and alternative feedstocks, adjustable products slate to meet market demand

Drop-in, premium quality advanced biofuels (no sulfur, no aromatics, no oxygenates, no olefins)

Achieves large Well-to-Wheel (WTW) GHG emissions savings > 90% compared to fossil fuel baseline

Commercial Bulletin

Gasel®

Axens’ Gasel® Technology aims at producing ultra-clean liquid products, notably jet fuel, diesel and petrochemicals feedstock (naphtha, waxes), through the conversion of synthesis gas.

The synthesis gas (also called syngas) shall be obtained from several sources such as for instance biomass, natural gas, wastes, etc.

This Fischer-Tropsch (FT) route is commonly accepted as one of the most promising mid-term solutions for the production of alternative fuels and petrochemicals, including Biomass-To-Liquids (BTL), Wastes-To-Liquids (WTL) and Power-To-Liquids (PTL) pathways.

The Gasel® offer is analogous to Axens’ offer for complete refineries including integration studies, license, basic design package, start-up assistance, technical services and catalyst manufacturing.

How does it work

Axens Gasel® Technology consists of two main units: the Fischer-Tropsch unit and the Upgrading unit. A third optional unit shall be added to the overall Gasel® scheme if a final purification step for the syngas is required.

In the final Purification unit, the remaining impurities are removed from the syngas.

The Fischer-Tropsch unit consists generally in either one or several trains, depending on the overall capacity. It converts purified syngas from any hydrocarbon source into long paraffinic chains. The reaction takes places into a slurry-bubble column with a Cobalt-based catalyst.

The Upgrading unit consists of two main upgrading steps: the hydroisomerization and the fractionation sections. This process step combines selective cracking of the long paraffinic chains into middle distillates and naphtha, along with paraffin isomerization of the diesel cut to improve motor fuel characteristics such as cold flow properties.

Gasel® high quality products properties

Synthetic kerosene meets ASTM D7566 specifications and is thus incorporable into the Jet-A1
Drop-in diesel has excellent cold flow properties, high cetane and is sulfur free
The produced paraffinic naphtha is not only an ideal petrochemical feedstock but can also be blended directly into gasoline pool
Pure 100% paraffinic waxes are highly valuable as basis for renewable/bio chemistry

Lower emissions of particles, sulfur oxides and other pollutants

Fully compatible with current engines and infrastructure, and thus certified as drop-in fuels

Large range of possible capacities ability to process syngas from many different origins / feedstocks, adjustable product slate to renewable/biofuels and chemical markets

Commercial Bulletin

Adsorbents

Arsine Removal Adsorbents

The poisonous effects of arsine and other metal hydrides on hydrogenation and polymerization catalysts is well documented. By far the most common, arsine can seriously deactivate the high-activity Ziegler Natta, metallocene and noble metal catalysts used for processing cracked light ends.

Adsorbents

Chloride Removal Adsorbents

Chloride is important in both catalytic reforming and isomerization as it helps to maintain catalytic activity over time. However, as chloride is continuously fed into these units, it also has to exit.

Adsorbents

Drying Series Adsorbents

Water removal applications are widely encountered in the industry sector. Activated alumina and molecular sieves stand at the forefront of the several different materials available on the market.

Adsorbents

Mercury Removal Adsorbents

Mercury removal from hydrocarbons is crucial due to HSE-related issues, corrosion problems and downstream catalyst poisoning.

Adsorbents

Sulfur Removal Adsorbents for Oil, Gas & Petrochemicals

Hydrogen sulfide (H₂S), COS, mercaptans or sulfides are common contaminants that must be removed from various gases and liquids such as natural gas, NGLs, LPGs, cracked gases, olefins or biogas.