Development of a state-of-the-art smart biorefinery for sustainable aviation fuel production using local waste and energy crops in Qatar

Project: Applied Research

Project Details

Abstract

Qatar is one of the largest producers and exporters of fossil-based fuels including natural gas. However, the country strives to diversify its sources of energy by incorporating renewables to mitigate its carbon footprint and expand its fossil reserves lifetime for the coming generations. In this context, Qatar has a unique pattern of transportation fuel consumption, whereby, jet fuel accounted for more than 55% during the year 2019. Therefore, developing technologies to produce Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) is becoming more essential. However, obtaining a cost competitive and sustainable SAF remains a challenge. Up till today, seven SAF production pathways have been certified internationally, with a maximum permissible load of 50% in aircrafts’ tanks due to the lack of some fuel components (i.e., aromatics). Each of these pathways can handle a single category of biomass only, which impacts their fuel levelised costs due to the low biomass supply. While the extremely heterogenous nature of biomass complicates scaling up and commercialisation of the process. Therefore, this proposal aims at designing and testing a state-of-the-art smart biorefinery system that is capable to accommodate all types of biomass in Qatar including oil-bearing energy crops, waste oils, solid and putrescible wastes to produce SAF at high selectivity and quality. An artificial intelligent control platform is to be developed to cope with the biomass heterogeneity and make instant decisions on optimal operating conditions for different biomass feeds to preserve SAF quality in every production batch. The model uniquely integrates key conventional and emerging technologies including hydroprocessing, gasification, Fischer-Tropsch, hydrothermal liquefaction and dry reforming, with intensive integration of heat and materials and an on-site carbon capture and power generation. Initial modeling of the proposed biorefinery revealed a superior SAF quality that can perfectly meet international standards with no fuel additives or engine retrofitting required. The research plan is to be implemented through modelling and simulation using advanced tools, lab-scale experimental studies, sustainability and feasibility analysis and the integration of artificial intelligence (AI). This research aims at: i. Developing a SAF hybrid biorefinery model to simultaneously accommodate multiple biomass. ii. Testing and validating the biorefinery model through laboratory experimental studies. iii. Characterising the produced SAF according to international standards. iv. Conducting a techno-economic and environmental assessment of the developed model. v. Developing a smart AI-based biorefinery operation’s control platform. The proposed project is believed to contribute to the Qatar National Vision 2030 in various aspects, including energy resources diversification, waste valorisation, and carbon footprint mitigation.

Submitting Institute Name

Hamad Bin Khalifa University (HBKU)
Sponsor's Award NumberARG01-0523-230310
Proposal IDEX-QNRF-ARG-26
StatusActive
Effective start/end date1/04/241/04/27

Primary Theme

  • None

Primary Subtheme

  • None

Secondary Theme

  • None

Secondary Subtheme

  • None

Keywords

  • Sustainable,Aviation,SAF,Corsia,Biomass
  • None

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