Traditional biofuels such as biodiesel and bioethanol have a different chemical structure from petroleum derived fuels which can lead to problems of compatibility when these biofuels are blended with conventional fuels. Furthermore, traditional biofuels are not generally suitable as jet fuels due to their inadequate low temperature properties and lower energy density.
Teams at the Johnson Matthey Technology Centre and our Catalysts and Chemicals business collaborated with various US partners on a project to develop a novel catalyst to convert vegetable oils to military grade jet fuel.
Our work has focused on the production of bio jet fuels which are identical to those that already exist in aviation markets and thus avoid the drawbacks of traditional biofuels.We have designed a novel catalyst that can convert fats and oils directly to jet fuel in a single step. This contrasts with the more capital intensive two stage process which is employed by a number of other companies.
There has been concern that food crops – and land that could be used to grow food – are being used to produce biofuels. These ‘first generation' biofuels are now seen as a threat to food security. Johnson Matthey's new technology, crucially, can use ‘second generation' feedstocks, such as algae oil and jatropha oil, which can be produced sustainably and are not used for food purposes.
This project is part of our growing portfolio of catalyst and process technology developments for low carbon markets. We are also participating in a number of international collaborative projects in biomass conversion, such as conversion of waste to transport fuels.