{"id":5975,"date":"2024-08-23T14:21:45","date_gmt":"2024-08-23T13:21:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.greenairnews.com\/?p=5975"},"modified":"2024-12-05T19:32:06","modified_gmt":"2024-12-05T19:32:06","slug":"novel-catalyst-pioneer-oxccu-launches-first-of-a-kind-ptl-saf-demonstration-facility","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.greenairnews.com\/?p=5975","title":{"rendered":"Novel catalyst pioneer OXCCU launches first-of-a-kind PtL SAF demonstration facility"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Oxford University spin-out OXCCU has opened a demonstration Power-to-Liquid (PtL) sustainable aviation fuel production plant at Oxford Airport in the UK. Designed and operated by OXCCU, the first-of-a-kind facility is due to start operations in September, producing 1.2kg (approximately 1.2 litres) of liquid fuel per day. The company says it will be the world\u2019s first demonstration of the direct conversion of CO2 and hydrogen to jet fuel range hydrocarbons in a single step through using its novel catalyst. Most PtL processes use a two-step approach involving the conversion of CO2 to CO, which OXCCU says requires a large energy input that leads to high operating and end product costs, a major barrier to e-SAF adoption. If proven successful, this first plant, OX1, will be followed by a bigger facility, OX2, to be designed, built and operated at Saltend Chemicals Park in north-east England by 2026 and capable of producing 160kg (200 litres) per day. The company has received backing from Boston-based Clean Energy Ventures and United Airlines, among others.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cWe\u2019re beyond excited to launch the OX1 plant, located close to where OXCCU<\/a> was born,\u201d Andrew Symes, the company\u2019s co-founder and CEO, told a media event to launch the facility. \u201cThe fuel we\u2019ve already made in a single step from CO2 in the lab has created great excitement with its potential to massively reduce the cost of SAF, but the scale-up is key and this plant will generate the data and litres of fuel we need.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The catalytic technology for converting CO2 to aviation jet fuel, which the company is calling OX\u2022EFUEL, was first developed at the University of Oxford\u2019s chemistry department, which resulted in a breakthrough paper published in Nature in 2020 and the filing of a patent, followed by the OXCCU spin-out in 2021.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In addition to Symes, the founders and senior management are Oxford University alumni and include Dr Jane Jin, COO; Dr Naomi Wise, CSO; Dr Benzhen Yao, Chief Engineer; and Dr Tiancun Xiao, CTO. Dr Xiao is a renowned catalyst expert with more than 300 publications and over 50 industry patents filed, and was a co-founder of Oxford Catalysts, now Velocys.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The key to the OXCCU one-step process is a patented multifunctional iron catalyst that converts CO2 and H2 directly into jet fuel range hydrocarbons using different active sites on the same catalyst surface, avoiding the step to first produce CO. \u201cTo our knowledge, we are the only SAF company with a one-step catalyst that does not produce significant amounts of alcohols as a byproduct,\u201d says the company. \u201cThe process eliminates the need for a Reverse Water Gas Shift or electrochemical syngas step to first produce CO, which leads to a step-change, simpler reactor design with higher efficiency.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It adds that modelling by independent researchers from Imperial College London has shown OXCCU\u2019s one-step process \u201csignificantly reduces SAF cost due to higher selectivity yield in the jet fuel range and a 50% lower capital cost.\u201d The company accepts that a significant amount of \u2018green\u2019 electricity is required to produce the green hydrogen from water via electrolysis but that its CO2 + H2 to SAF process is exothermic in that it releases energy \u201cand we operate under mild conditions\u201d. OXCCU adds that its catalyst has been validated for over 2,000 hours in lab conditions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhile 1.2 litres of fuel a day may not seem significant, it\u2019s a big scale-up moving from the lab to operating a chemical plant,\u201d said Symes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Symes acknowledges the main problem with e-fuels is cost. \u201cWith biofuels, the challenge is feedstocks, with us it\u2019s costs. The solution is the catalyst, which enables you to convert CO2 into fuel. The catalyst is the heart of all processes in the petrochemical industry and our catalyst enables you to get CO2 to fuel at lower capital and operating costs.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So where will the CO2 come from? \u201cIn the short term we can use industrial sources for the CO2, which will get you emissions reductions of 70-80% compared to fossil,\u201d said Symes. \u201cWe\u2019re not saying this is perfect but we can move towards perfection by capturing CO2 from the air and combining it with green hydrogen to make fuel. You can also capture CO2 from biogenic sources. So we\u2019re talking about carbon capture and utilisation and using CO2 as a viable resource and not just putting it underground.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While PtL production will remain small initially, he predicts a rapid scale-up in the years to come, partly driven by government policy. The EU\u2019s SAF blending mandate requires 28% of all jet fuel consumed to come from e-fuels by 2050, with the UK proposed SAF mandate requiring a more modest 3.5% by 2040, a move that disappoints Symes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A Series A funding round in 2023 raised \u00a318 million ($23m) and this year OXCCU won a \u00a32.8 million UK government grant through the Advanced Fuels Fund. Investment has come from IP Group (now Kiko Ventures), Clean Energy Ventures, United Airlines, Eni, Aramco Ventures and Trafigura. It also has support from Oxford Airport, Oxford University, the jet fuel research and test centre at the University of Sheffield, Boeing, Rolls-Royce and IAG.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The company is looking to raise further finance of \u00a320-25 million later this year or early next to enable funding of the Saltend project, where the fuel produced will be used for jet fuel testing and earning revenues from customers. The ultimate aim is to provide technology packages to SAF project developers on a global basis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe want to be the leading catalyst provider and license the design of our reactor and process but we will be distinct from the developer who is financing and building the project,\u201d said Symes. \u201cOXCCU\u2019s catalyst will sit at the centre of the refinery of the future.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Photo: OXCCU\u2019s Head of Engineering, Charles Yiu, in front of the newly completed OX1 plant at Oxford Airport<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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