Techno-economic Assessment of Sustainable Aviation Fuel Production via H₂/CO₂-Based Methanol Pathway

To achieve long-term greenhouse gas neutrality in aviation, replacing fossil aviation fuels with Sustainable Aviation Fuels (SAF) from renewable sources is essential. A SAF production process from renewable hydrogen and carbon dioxide, was designed using Aveva Process Simulation, followed by comprehensive economical assessments. The designed process leads to an annual production of 37kt of SAF, with 97% of the molecules featuring a carbon chain length between 8 and 16. This output indicates a robust and targeted production capability. With an in-depth optimization of the methanol reactor, it was found that the profitability of the plant aligns with other SAF studies, demonstrating a Minimum Selling Price of Product of $2.46/kg after Heat Integration. In terms of economic profitability, the production of SAF using the methanol pathway appears to be
an alternative to other SAF production pathways such as Fischer-Tropsch process but resides dependent on the evolution of H2 production technologies, novel SAF production processes and environmental regulations. Despite this, the price remains higher than the current cost of fossil jet fuels, posing a competitive challenge.