From seawater to jet fuel
Oil & Gas Major, UAE · Sustainable Bioenergy Research Consortium · 2017
Sustainable Aviation Fuel
- 2 → 200 ha
- Pilot proven, then scaled to commercial phase
- 2020
- UAE's historic biofuel flight
- Sector
- Sustainable Aviation Fuel
- Client
- Oil & Gas Major, UAE · Sustainable Bioenergy Research Consortium · 2017
The challenge
Under the UAE Green Agenda 2015-2030, a Sustainable Bioenergy Research Consortium set out to make aviation fuel from a closed seawater loop. Before a 200-hectare commercial phase could be justified, the fuel had to be proven at bench scale.
- 1Aquaculture pondsFish and shrimp raised in seawater generate nutrient-rich wastewater
- 2Salicornia fieldsOil-rich crop fed by that wastewater produces oilseeds
- 3refineryOilseeds refined into aviation fuel
- 4Mangrove wetlandsRemaining water feeds mangroves that act as a natural carbon sink
What DSAT delivered
The bench-scale pilot plant at the heart of the 2-hectare SEAS facility - a fixed-bed reactor from HITECH Engineering with a flow-loop testing system, supplied, commissioned and standards-ready for quality testing of the refined oil.
The result
The fuel was tested and proven against standard - the evidence the consortium needed to move from pilot to commercial scale.
Outcome
Generated homegrown UAE Biofuel that met the standards to enable the historic 2020 flight
