Aether Fuels Successfully Demonstrates 2.5 Barrel-per-Day Aurora™ Equipment in Fully Integrated Line Producing On-Spec Synthetic Aviation Fuel

(Aether Fuels/Globe Newswire) Milestone validates Aether’s integrated technology platform at larger scale and advances the company toward commercial deployment of next-generation sustainable aviation fuel

Aether Fuels Inc. (Aether), a sustainable fuels technology company, announced the successful construction, commissioning, and operation of its fully integrated demonstration line, including the production of synthetic aviation fuel which meets the specifications of ASTM D7566, the international standard for synthetic jet fuel. This is a major milestone in the commercialization of its Aether Aurora™ technology platform.

This demonstration line utilized Aether’s 2.5 barrel-per-day capacity Aether Aurora Tri-Converter and Aurora Upgrader units, integrated together with RTI’s existing Fischer-Tropsch reactor. The fuel was produced using mass-balanced renewable natural gas (RNG) derived from landfill gas generated in Kentucky and industrial CO2 as feedstocks and included the complete conversion process from waste-derived gas feedstocks to fully upgraded synthetic liquid jet fuel. Aether is believed to be the first company in North America to produce ASTM-specification synthetic aviation fuel from mass-balanced RNG and captured industrial CO2 at this scale.

Independent third-party testing conducted by AmSpec (www.amspecgroup.com) confirmed that the fuel samples produced during this demo run met the applicable ASTM specifications for FT-SPK (Annex A1 for Fischer-Tropsch Synthesized Paraffinic Kerosene (FT-SPK)). Under the ASTM D7566 standard, alternative fuels meeting this specification are approved for blending with conventional kerosene up to 50% without requiring modifications to existing aircraft tanks, pipelines, or airport fueling systems. Additionally, because the FT-SPK route is already approved under the ASTM, no new ASTM certification is required.

“This demonstration proves Aether’s ability to scale up our integrated Aurora platform, take a feedstock through the complete end-to-end process, and produce on-spec synthetic aviation fuel. It is the culmination of over a year of hard work by Aether’s R&D team and is a tremendous milestone,” said Dhaval Shah, Chief Technology Officer of Aether Fuels. “Just as importantly, the data from this demonstration informs and de-risks the design of our 50 BPD Project Beacon plant in Singapore, as we continue rapid journey to large scale commercial deployment”

Aether has a pipeline of large commercial projects under development that will follow Project Beacon and produce ASTM D7566-compliant sustainable aviation fuel with lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions reductions of over 70% compared with conventional fossil jet fuel.

“This is exciting progress for Aether as we march forward towards commercial deployment,” said Conor Madigan, Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder of Aether Fuels. “We started by systematically demonstrating each part of the Aurora platform at the pilot scale, then scaled our novel technology up more than 50X in standalone demo units, and in this most recent demonstration, brought these demo units together in an integrated line that produces ASTM spec jet fuel. This is a significant achievement and puts us on the right track to successfully build and operate Project Beacon and the commercial projects that will follow.”

Aether Fuels is a climate technology company revolutionizing sustainable fuel production to help hard-to-abate industries like aviation and ocean shipping achieve their decarbonization goals. Our breakthrough Aether Aurora™ technology converts waste carbon into drop-in liquid fuels with near-ideal carbon conversion efficiency. The scalable solution addresses the core requirements of next-generation sustainable fuels by increasing production yields and reducing capital costs, while utilizing a diverse range of feedstocks. Founded in 2022 and backed by global investors and partners, we maintain principal offices in the U.S. and Singapore. To learn more, visit www.aetherfuels.com or follow us on LinkedIn. READ MORE