USA BioEnergy announced it has selected Johnson Matthey plc (JM; London) and Honeywell International, Inc. (Charlotte, N.C.) to provide their process technologies to USA BioEnergy to produce synthetic paraffinic kerosene (SPK) at its Bon Wier, Texas biorefinery.
JM/bp’s award-winning FT CANS technology and Honeywell UOP’s FT Unicracking process technology, which both use the Fischer Tropsch pathway, will be deployed to produce SPK that complies with strict aviation industry standards once blended with conventional jet fuel.
Once operational, the Bon Wier plant is expected to convert one million tons of biomass annually — using responsibly sourced forest thinnings as feedstock — into 65 million gallons of transportation fuels, including SAF.
At the facility, USA BioEnergy will also implement Honeywell’s Experion® PKS Distributed Control System (DCS) and safety system to ensure optimal performance, reliability and safety.
Tony Wedell, COO of USA BioEnergy, said: “We are excited to add two of the world’s leading technology providers to our team. We are creating the best fully integrated solution in the advanced fuels industry.”
Nick Andrews, CEO of USA BioEnergy, said: “By utilizing forest thinnings for bioenergy production with carbon capture and sequestration technologies, our integration with Johnson Matthey and Honeywell will help us create this fully integrated, alternative fuels solution.”
Alberto Giovanzana, Managing Director Licensing at Johnson Matthey, said: “This project is another great example of FT CANS being deployed at scale to support the decarbonisation of air travel. It builds on our existing pipeline in the USA, showing continued support for projects that contribute to domestic energy security, fuel security, and jobs.”
Rajesh Gattupalli, president of Honeywell UOP, said: “Honeywell is committed to addressing feedstock availability challenges in SAF production and scale by pioneering technologies that expand feedstock options. Through our collaboration with USA BioEnergy, this project is another great example of the important role alternative fuels play in supporting America’s energy security.”
The collaboration on the Bon Wier biorefinery builds on several recent advancements in SAF achieved by each of the companies, including:
- USA BioEnergy entered into a 20-year offtake agreement with Southwest Airlines for the purchase of up to 680 million gallons of SPK. If blended with fossil jet fuel to meet international standards, this quantity could yield 2.59 billion gallons of SAF2, helping to meet International Air Transport Association (IATA) emission goals to achieve net zero by 2050.
- JM and Honeywell were recently selected by DG Fuels for a new SAF manufacturing plant in Minnesota, USA. DG Fuels’ Minnesota project also plans to use JM/bp’s FT CANS technology and Honeywell UOP’s FT Unicracking process technology. In addition, DG Fuels has licenced JM’s HyCOgen™ reverse water gas shift technology for the Minnesota project. For JM, these projects represent the 10th and 11th large-scale wins in its Catalyst Technologies’ portfolio since the start of financial year 24/25.