From the DOE abstract here.
This project will scale Alder Energy’s proprietary advanced pyrolysis oil (APOTM) technology to
convert 0.5 tonnes of biomass per day and produce sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) at <$2.75 per
gallon with negative carbon intensity from regen-ag Miscanthus. Alder Energy’s APO technology
addresses the challenge of 1st stage hydrotreater plugging with commercial fast pyrolysis oils by
employing solvent fractionation to generate two process streams for downstream upgrading. The
APO process separates lignin-derived phenolics into a hydrophobic APO phase with <1 wt% water
content and 1.7x energy density of fast pyrolysis oil, while most of the reactive sugars, acids, and
aldehydes are separated into the aqueous phase for separate processing. This allows APO to
undergo continuous hydrotreating to produce 80% C-yield of liquid biofuel and yield >70 vol%
SAF that meets initial ASTM Fast Track specs as a blend. We will evaluate regen-ag Miscanthus
biomass as the feedstock, which has the potential to produce an additional >7 billion gallons of
SAF with negative carbon intensity due to net carbon sequestered in the soil during cultivation.
EERE funding is critical to derisk the scale-up of APO production with increasing volume and
operation. This project will provide key data to baseline woody biomass APO performance against
Miscanthus, and conduct hydrotreating with iterative SAF fuel property testing for meeting ASTM
spec. Success will provide the data needed to accelerate APO-SAF commercialization