Aether Fuels

Many industrial processes produce off-gases rich in CO, CO2, H2, and CH4. Today these gases are usually combusted on site, either in a flare or in a plant to produce heat or electricity.

After pre-processing to remove unwanted contaminants and adjust the stream composition, Aether Aurora can transform these gas streams into high value liquid fuels.

Municipal solid waste (MSW) and agricultural and forestry waste and residues are abundant globally. Most are left to decompose into greenhouse gases.

After converting these feedstocks using commercial gasification equipment into CO, CO2, H2, and CH4, Aether Aurora can transform the resulting gas stream into high value liquid fuels.

Methane emissions from the decomposition of organic wastes like MSW, sewage, and livestock are major contributors to climate change.

This process can be harness in controlled digestors to produce a stream of CH4 and CO2, called biogas. After some simple clean-up to remove contaminants and adjust the composition, Aether Aurora can transform the this gas stream into high value liquid fuels.

CO2 is present in the atmosphere and in the exhausts of most industrial facilities, including, for example, power plants, cement plants, pulp and paper mills, and breweries.

This CO2 can be captured and concentrated into a high purity stream using various commercial technologies, which Aether Aurora can transform into high value liquid fuels when combined with clean H2.

Today these raw waste gas streams are cleaned to remove the major contaminants, like ammonia and sulfur, so that the gases are suitable for combustion (in flares or as fuel for power or heat generation.)

These streams are then passed through a commercial fine sulfur removal step, and to finally get the right ratio of individual components for Aether Aurora, a portion of the CO2 may be removed, or supplemental clean H2 added.

Commercial gasifiers convert sized and dried biomass/MSW into a raw stream of CO, H2, CO2, and CH4, which is then subjected to a clean-up process to remove both solid and chemical contaminants.

To achieve the right ratio of individual components for Aether Aurora, two approaches may be used, depending on the availability of supplemental H2. In the first approach, supplemental clean H2 is added. In the second approach, a “water gas shift” process is used to convert some of the CO (and added H2O) into CO2 and H2. Additionally, a portion of the CO2 may be removed.

Commercial anerobic digesters convert organic waste into biogas, a mixture of biogenic CH4 and CO2. This raw biogas is first cleaned to remove contaminants, including sulfur.

To achieve the right ratio of individual components for Aether Aurora, a portion of the CO2 may be removed, or some supplemental H2 added. Alternatively, all of the CO2 may be removed to make renewable natural gas that can then be transported in natural gas pipelines and then used on its own or combined with supplemental CO2.

When CO2 is captured from flue exhaust, following concentration the stream is further cleaned to remove contaminants like sulfur. When the CO2 is captured from the air, this further cleaning step can be omitted.

This CO2 stream is then combined with clean H2, such as green hydrogen, to achieve the right ratio of individual components for Aether Aurora. A noted above in the biogas route, alternatively this CO2 stream can be combined with renewable natural gas instead of clean H2.

In the syngas generation step, the gas feed into the plant and the recycled off-gas from the downstream upgrading step are converted into syngas (i.e. CO and H2.) Thanks to a proprietary catalyst, the Aurora Tri-Converter can do this stably in just one reactor, whereas conventionally this requires two or three reactors (i.e. one for CO2 conversion and one or two for light hydrocarbon conversion.)

In addition, the Aurora Tri-Converter utilizes electric heaters to generate the required heat of reaction, instead of conventional “fired” heaters that combust hydrocarbon fuels (e.g. methane) to do this. As a result, the Aurora Tri-Converter is much smaller (and cheaper) than a conventional reactor and has higher yield because it does not waste any of carbon to generate process heat.

In the FT conversion step, syngas from the Tri-Converter is converted into raw hydrocarbons utilizing the commercially proven FT synthesis process. High-performing commercial FT technology and catalysts are available from severalthird-party technology companies, and the Aether Aurora process has been designed to be compatible with any 3rd party FT technology.

The raw hydrocarbon FT product contains a mix of gas, liquid, and wax (solid) fractions (referring to their physical state at ambient condition.)

In the upgrading step, the raw FT hydrocarbons are converted into high quality liquid hydrocarbons, and an off-gas stream that is recycled back to the Tri-Converted to increase overall yield. Thanks to two proprietary catalysts, the Aurora Upgrader can do this stably in an FT “tail reactor” configuration where the raw FT product is fed into the Aurora Upgrader without costly separations, and without the associated temperature cycling and compression duty. This both reduces capital cost and boosts energy efficiency.

In the standard configuration, the main product is SAF, with smaller portions of Naphtha and Diesel. Alternatively, the plant can be configured to produce just SAF, just SAF and Diesel, or just SAF and Naphtha.

Sustainable aviation fuel is designed for use as a fuel in planes; SAF is made up of a mix of medium-sized liquid hydrocarbons, typically having between 8 and 16 carbon atoms, and must meet the stringent ASTM D7566 specification.

Sustainable diesel is designed for use as a fuel in ships, heavy machinery, and certain cars, trucks, and generators; sustainable diesel is made up of a mix of longer chain liquid hydrocarbons, typically having more than 12 carbon atoms.

Sustainable naphtha is designed for use as a fuel in passenger cars and as a feedstock for chemical synthesis such as plastics, synthetic fibers and solvents; sustainable naphtha is made up of a mix of shorter chain liquid hydrocarbons, typically having less than 12 carbon atoms.