Virgin plans for new aviation fuel made from waste gas from steel production
have half the carbon footprint of the standard fossil fuel alternative. It is
developing the fuel with LanzaTech and claims it is a breakthrough. The fuel will
use waste gases from industrial steel production which will be captured, and
chemically converted (Fischer Tropsch) using Swedish Biofuels technology for use
as a jet fuel. The gas otherwise would be burnt/vented to produce CO2.
of low-carbon fuel.
and Shanghai and Delhi.
open a commercial operation in 2014.
production and chemically converting it using technology from Stockholm-based
Swedish Biofuels.
dioxide.
broad application to support the air transport industry.
industry could potentially supply over 15 billion gallons of fuel per year.
at a cost comparable to conventional jet fuel,” he added.
“dramatically reduce” carbon footprints.
by 2020 and that the new partnership would take the carrier “well beyond” that
target.
footprint of the standard fossil fuel alternative.
and said it “represents a breakthrough in aviation fuel technology”.
captured, fermented and chemically converted using Swedish Biofuels technology
for use as a jet fuel.
be burnt into the atmosphere as carbon dioxide,” said Virgin.
Heathrow within two to three years.
which means the fuel can be rolled out for worldwide commercial use.
growing its potential considerably further.
to test a bio-fuel flight and we continue to lead the airline industry as the
pioneer of sustainable aviation.
major step towards radically reducing our carbon footprint, and we are excited
about the savings that this technology could help us achieve.
and with the steel industry alone able to deliver over 15 billion gallons of jet
fuel annually, the potential is very exciting.
at a cost comparable to conventional jet fuel.”
when the iron ore is reduced with coke to metallic iron. It has a very low heating
value, about 93 BTU/cubic foot, because it consists of about 60 percent nitrogen,
18-20% carbon dioxide and some oxygen, which are not flammable. The rest is mostly
carbon monoxide, which has a fairly low heating value already. It is commonly
used as a fuel within the steel works, but it can be used in boilers and power
plants equipped to burn it. It may be combined with natural gas or coke oven gas
before combustion or a flame support with richer gas or oil is provided to sustain
combustion. Particulate matter is removed so that it can be burned more cleanly.
Blast furnace gas is sometimes flared without generating heat or electricity.
°C (302 °F) deg.C in a modern Blast Furnace. This pressure is utilized to operate
a generator (Top-gas-pressure Recovery Turbine – i.e.TRT in short), which can
generate electrical energy up to 35 kwh/t of pig iron without burning any fuel.
Dry type TRTs can generate more power than wet type TRT.
°C (1,202 °F) and it has LEL (Lower Explosive Limit) of 27% & UEL (Upper Explosive
Limit) of 75% in an air-gas mixture at normal temperature and pressure.
and
(250-550 Btu/ft3 (std)); with values around 20 MJ/m³ (550 Btu/ft3 (std)) being
typical.
reactions that convert a mixture of carbon monoxide and hydrogen into liquid hydrocarbons.
The process, a key component of gas to liquids technology, produces a petroleum
substitute, typically from coal, natural gas, or biomass for use as synthetic
lubrication oil and as synthetic fuel.[1] The F–T process has received intermittent
attention as a source of low-sulfur diesel fuel and to address the supply or cost
of petroleum-derived hydrocarbons.
150–300 °C (302–572 °F). Higher temperatures lead to faster reactions and higher
conversion rates but also tend to favor methane production. As a result, the temperature
is usually maintained at the low to middle part of the range. Increasing the pressure
leads to higher conversion rates and also favors formation of long-chained alkanes
both of which are desirable. Typical pressures range from one to several tens
of atmospheres. Even higher pressures would be favorable, but the benefits may
not justify the additional costs of high-pressure equipment and higher pressures
can leading to catalyst deactivation via coke formation.
the optimal H2:CO ratio is around 1.8–2.1. Iron-based catalysts promote the water-gas-shift
reaction and thus can tolerate significantly lower ratios. This reactivity can
be important for synthesis gas derived from coal or biomass, which tend to have
relatively low H2:CO ratios (<1).