Articles
Alcohol to Jet Fuels (ATJ)
Alcohol to Jet Fuels (ATJ)
June 01, 2026
üThe ATJ route involves three main steps: (i) dehydration of the bio-alcohol to the corresponding olefin; (ii) oligomerization of the olefins to a new oligomerized olefin, and (iii) hydrogenation of the oligomerized olefin to the saturated hydrocarbon product.
üAlcohols typically used in the ATJ route include small C2 and C4 compounds such as ethanol (the most widely produced bio-alcohol worldwide) and butanol (n-butanol and iso-butanol).
üEthanol can be readily dehydrated to ethylene over acidic catalysts such as silica-alumina, silico-aluminophosphates, zeolites, and hetero-polyacids. Complete conversion and nearly 100% selectivity toward ethylene were achieved over these materials at moderate temperatures (250 °C) and space velocities (2 h−1).
üDehydration of C4 alcohols also takes place smoothly over acidic catalysts, although obtaining a single olefin remains challenging.
üThe olefins resulting from the above dehydration processes can be oligomerized to higher olefins by well-known industrial processes using both homogeneous and heterogeneous catalysts. For instance, ethylene can be oligomerized to linear α-olefins using the commercial Ziegler–Natta catalysts.
üThis process has been industrially exploited by Chevron (one-step Ziegler–Natta) and INEOS (two-step Ziegler–Natta) to produce hundreds of thousands of ethylene oligomers annually. A third process has been developed by Shell using a different homogenous catalyst based on Ni–P.
üOligomerization of olefins can also be carried out over heterogeneous acidic catalysts such as sulfonic resins, solid phosphoric acid, or zeolites at moderate temperatures and pressures.
- Only Ethanol conversion to Jet Fuels will be considered relevant.
- References disclosing information on Processing Technologies for the production of Jet Fuel from Ethanol will be considered relevant.
- References disclosing information on Use of Catalysts specifically in Ethanol-to-Jet Fuel Conversion will be considered relevant.
- Equipment or Devices used in the Ethanol-to-Jet Fuel Production will be considered relevant.
- Processing Technologies that are beneficial to one sector of the application or the other.
- Processing Technologies providing beneficial solutions such as Scalability, Availability of Raw materials, Higher Yield, Cost-effectiveness, Faster Process, etc.
Inclusion Reference Type
üSystems and processes for conversion of ethylene feedstocks to hydrocarbon fuels: Systems, processes, and catalysts are disclosed for obtaining fuel and fuel blends containing selected ratios of open-chain and closed-chain fuel-range hydrocarbons suitable for production of alternate fuels including gasolines, jet fuels, and diesel fuels. Fuel-range hydrocarbons may be derived from ethylene-containing feedstocks and ethanol-containing feedstocks. Source
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Technical Criteria
- Conversions other than Ethanol-to-JET such as Sugars and Platform Molecules to Jet Fuels (STJ), Gas to Jet Fuels (GTJ), Oil to Jet Fuels (OTJ), etc. will be considered Non-Relevant.
- If the End Product from ethanol is other than Aviation Fuel, then it will not be considered.
- Technologies that do not provide any beneficial application of the ethanol to Aviation Fuel conversion (review articles, minor changes in process/ equipment).
- Other Alcohol conversions such as “Butanol-to-Jet” Fuel or “Iso-butanol-to-Jet” Fuel will not be considered.
- References merely disclosing “Jet Fuel” and not focused will also not be considered.
- Use of catalysts in conversions other than Ethanol-to-Jet Fuel will be considered Non-Relevant.
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