Staying in the US, biotech company BioVeritas has launched a new technology to convert biomass via fermentation into volatile fatty acids (VFAs), a key precursor for a range of high-value products, most notably SAF.
The BioVeritas Process, when applied to SAF, provides access to a greater number of feedstocks and uses less energy to deliver aviation fuel with superior carbon intensity, the company claims. It comprises three steps. First, directed mixed-culture fermentation transforms a variety of abundant feedstocks – from purpose-grown crops to agricultural residues and waste streams – into a mixture of VFAs in a controlled ratio. This control is exerted by directing the microbial physiology and ecology of the mixed culture.
Second, low-energy acid recovery is enabled by BioVeritas’ proprietary extraction process and water recycling. Combined, these attributes minimise both distillation and evaporation requirements that typically drive high energy demand in other processes.
Lastly, the VFA-SAF step converts the longer-chain VFAs into SAF through ketonisation followed by hydrodeoxygenation and isomerisation. The latter two processes are those used in the commercially established HEFA/HVO (hydrotreated esters and fatty acids/hydrotreated vegetable oil) process.
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