Circular Fuels Technologies
For this section, REVOLVE with the rest of the consortium will include information about the different technological processes of Circular Fuels, with photos and/or graphics visualising them.
Integration of solar power and heat
At the Circular Fuels project, solar energy produced will be a result of both concentrated solar heat and solar radiance (sunlight). Solar heat energy will be concentrated by using parabolic concentrators and mirrors, producing temperatures of over 3000°C. The produced solar heat will then be diverted to the pyrolysis reactor that requires heat to produce bio-oil. Therefore, there will be no combustion involved in this process of heat production, which means CO2 emission free.
Concurrently, sunlight will be used by solar PV to produce electricity. The energy produced will be utilised as power source for PEM (Proton Exchange Membrane) electrolysers to produce green hydrogen from water electrolysis. Before the distillation process, hydrogen will be used for the hydrotreatment of bio-oil to remove oxygen, which is unwanted in aviation fuels.
Innovation: Integration of solar power and concentrated solar heat, including a CO2 emission-free process.
Bio-oil fast pyrolysis
Fast pyrolysis is a thermal conversion technique in which feedstock is converted to different liquid (bio-oil), gas (H2, CO, CH4, CO2, etc.), or solid fuels (biochar). Pyrolysis is characterised by particles that have small residence time in the reactor and occurs in the absence of oxygen and at high temperature. As part of the Circular Fuels project, the conversion of feedstock to bio-oil will happen by using a bubbling fluidised bed reactor and a tubular free fall reactor provided by VTT and PROMES-CNRS.
Innovation: The use of solar heat for pyrolysis known as solar assisted fast pyrolysis.
Solar SAF jet
Sustainable aviation fuels (SAF) will be produced from biomass waste utilising solar power and heat. Waste and bio-based feedstocks used will be sourced from rye straw, wheat straw and used demolition wood. Therefore, the produced jet fuel will be a result of sustainably available, non-fossil-based raw materials. Another alternative is the production of SAF from green hydrogen and captured CO2, which is not part of our project. The core of the bio-oil post-processing technology is similar to the conventional distillation process used in fossil-based fuels. To produce solar SAF jet fuel, ORLEN will oversee the distillation of bio-crude oil (bio-oil after hydrotreatment) to get maximum fraction of SAF per ASTM standard.
Advanced biofuels for aviation
Advanced biofuels are liquid fuels that mostly derive from non-food-based feedstocks such as straw, saw dust and nut shells, as listed in the Part A of Annex IX of the Renewable Energy Directive (RED). Along with SAF production, advanced biofuels will be used as side fuel streams for other transportation modes. Advanced Biofuels are considered to yield a lifecycle reduction in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of at least 50% compared with fossil fuels.
