A consortium led by Sasol and Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin (HZB) has launched the CARE-O-SENE (Catalyst Research for Sustainable Kerosene) research project to help drive the decarbonisation push in the aviation sector.
Sponsored by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) and Sasol, the project will involve the development and optimisation of next-generation catalysts for sustainable aviation fuels (SAF).
The catalysts are being developed to support the production of green kerosene on a commercial scale through Fischer-Tropsch (FT) technology.
HZB scientific managing director Dr Bernd Rech said: “CARE-O-SENE will enable us to accelerate innovation in a crucial field of green energy. This can only be achieved in a global partnership by deeply integrating fundamental research and technology development on an industry-relevant scale.”
CARE-O-SENE will run for three years, researching catalysts that will enable large-scale commercialisation of green kerosene production by 2025.
These catalysts will help optimise chemical reactions, increase yield and improve the quality of refined products.
The new FT catalysts are expected to increase the fuel yield of the process to more than 80%.
Sasol CEO and president Fleetwood Grobler said: “Our expertise in FT technology and catalysts makes us the ideal partner to help Germany and the world decarbonise the aviation sector and make it sustainable over the long-term.”
The Fraunhofer Institute for Ceramic Technologies and Systems (IKTS), Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), University of Cape Town, Department of Chemical Engineering (UCT) and INERATEC are also partners in the project.
