Evaluation of dry corn ethanol bio-refinery concepts for the production of sustainable aviation fuel

A typical Dry Grind Corn Ethanol Mill (DGCEM) with a capacity of 230 ML of ethanol per year is used as the baseline for the evaluation of biorefinery concepts for sustainable aviation fuels (SFAs). The main goal is to identify SAF cost reduction opportunities as well as environmental benefits by integrating with existing DGCEM infrastructure. Five SAF production technologies are studied: Virent's BioForming (VB), Alcohol to Jet (ATJ), Direct Sugar to Hydrocarbon (DSHC), Fast Pyrolysis (FP) and Gasification & Fischer-Tropsch (GFT). We built SAF unit cases with capital cost equal to the studied DGCEM ($115 M). Larger SAF units are unlikely to synergize well with existing DGCEMs. Twelve co-location and repurposing scenarios are evaluated where SAF technologies utilize intermediate products, auxiliary facilities, or unit operations from DGCEM. For each of the scenarios, the minimum fuel selling price (MFSP) and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions are estimated. Our aim is to identify which SAF technologies can be most efficiently integrated with a corn ethanol mill. Eleven scenarios result in lowered MFSPs in the range of 3-67% reduction, from their corresponding greenfield design cases. The highest reduction is observed when ATJ is produced in a repurposed facility. In the case of GHG we were able to identify one scenario with lower GHG emissions compared with greenfield units. SAF in thirteen scenarios have GHG emission ranging from 13 to 93% of fossil fuel. One of the repurposed scenarios of ATJ is the concept with the best overall performance parameter.

Automated summary

The evaluation of biorefinery concepts for sustainable aviation fuels was based on a typical Dry Grind Corn Ethanol Mill, aiming to reduce costs and identify environmental benefits through integration with existing infrastructure. Among the studied technologies, ATJ produced in repurposed facilities showed the highest cost reduction, while some scenarios had lower GHG emissions compared to greenfield units.