**5. Technological overview of bio-jet fuel based on bio-alcohol**

Bio-jet fuel is currently being developed and commercialized with various degrees of technology development readiness with various production processes

**Figure 7.** *Process technology-wise fuel readiness level (FRL) for bio-jet fuel [14].*

**Figure 8.** *Worldwide bio-jet fuel production facility and scale [15].*



*Recent Application of Bio-Alcohol: Bio-Jet Fuel DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.89719*

employed for different raw materials. **Figure 7** shows the process technology-wise fuel readiness level (FRL) for bio-jet fuel. In view of the fuel readiness level (FRL), the bio-jet fuel production process close to technology development completion is HEFA process which was commercialized by UOP, AltAir, and Neste Oil companies as a kind of OJT process. On the other hand, FT, DSHC, and ATJ processes involving gasification of biomass, fermentation of glucose and catalytic conversion, and alcohol conversion, respectively, are also actively studied, but they are not as economically viable as HEFA/HRJ process from practical standpoint. As for major bio-ethanol upgrading companies, Terrabon and ZeaChem produce organic acid-derived hydrocarbon fuels, and Gevo and Vertimass produce alcohol-derived hydrocarbon fuels, the latter company utilizing ORNL technology. However, none of these companies have accomplished commercialization capability.

**Figure 8** shows the worldwide bio-jet fuel production facility and scale. According to published data of ATAG and EIA in 2017 and 2015, annual US consumption of jet fuel and production of bio-jet fuel amounted to 8 billion and 200 million gallons, respectively. Approximately 190 million gallons of the bio-jet fuel was commercially produced by HEFA process, which is attributed to similarity to green diesel or hydrotreated vegetable oil (HVO) facility which produces automobile light oil using biomass. Sweden, the Netherlands, Singapore, and UAE are in possession of 50% of the production facility, while the USA produced 20% of them in eight regions. Representative bio-jet fuel producers include AltAir Fuels Refinery which was established in 2013 and introduced Honeywell UOP technology. Neste oil is operating production facility in Finland, Singapore, and the Netherlands, totaling 2 million gallons per annum. Other bio-jet fuel producers and airline consumers are listed in **Table 4**.

Apart from this, short-term test flight using bio-jet fuel is also actively performed by major airlines. Japan Airlines was tested by supplying 50% bio-jet fuel mixture to one of the four jet engines in January, 2009. Singapore Airlines also



#### **Table 5.**

*Representative civil and military test flights using bio-jet fuel [17].*

performed 12 test flights for 3 months from May, 2017, using bio-jet fuel mixture from waste vegetable oil. According to the ICAO, 40,000 or more flights were successfully performed by using bio-jet fuel, and US Air Force and Navy aircraft were also separately tested for possibility of using bio-jet fuel as a contingency plan for replacement fuel. Representative test flight data for civil and military aircraft are listed in **Table 5**.
