Synthetic Fuels

In the future, synthetic fuels will primarily be needed to achieve CO₂-neutrality also in hard-to-abate transport sectors, mainly aviation, marine shipping and heavy-duty road transport.

In the Bavarian “Center for Sustainable Fuels” (ZENK) in Straubing and Sulzbach-Rosenberg, we are developing new process routes for the synthesis of CO₂-neutral fuels based on renewable resources and energy. The development is conducted at pilot-scale and paves the way for application in a refinery of the future, where all feedstocks and input streams originate from renewable sources.

Our synthetic approach consists of the chemical conversion of alcohols via light olefins (alkenes) as intermediates to middle distillate fuels such as kerosene and diesel (SynergyFuels). The starting materials methanol and ethanol are obtained from CO₂ hydrogenation and fermentation processes. Further catalytic processes (EcoFuel) can then be applied to yield readily refined fuel fractions.

• Climate-neutral production of fuels based on renewable raw materials and energy
• Circular economy
• Independence of fossil fuels
• Decentralized production is possible
  

• Assessment of the resource base of processes
• Development of suitable processes and process cascades including catalyst screening and optimization
• Process scale-up
• Production of fuel samples