A comparative study of sustainable aviation fuel production from hydroprocessing process between hydrogen recovery unit from steam reforming and hydrogen generation unit from biomass gasification

Abstract

Sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) can be generated using various processes. Among the well-established approaches, one that stands out is the hydrotreating of esters and fatty acids (HEFA). However, the HEFA process requires a source of hydrogen for the hydroprocessing reactions. Hydrogen is often considered as an expensive component, and its cost can have a significant impact on the overall economic viability of renewable aviation fuel production. In this work, the SAF process is developed using Aspen Plus simulation. There are 2 scenarios to be considered. Scenario 1 involves a plant in which the hydrotreating of palm oil is performed to recover hydrogen from the hydrocarbon gas and other byproducts directed to a steam reformer. In scenario 2, palm oil hydrotreatment is combined with hydrogen production through biomass gasification. The results show that scenario 2 is superior to the scenario 1 in both terms of performance and economics. This is attributed to its substantial SAF yield, resulting in higher revenue from product sales, as well as a shorter payback period.