Techno-economic assessment of modified Fischer-Tropsch synthesis process for direct CO2 conversion into jet fuel

Direct use of CO2 through modified Fischer-Tropsch synthesis (FTS) process presents a viable approach for the production of carbon–neutral jet fuel. However, achieving high performance for the CO2-FTS process remains a significant challenge. Current technology can only achieve low CO2 conversion and low jet fuel yield using tailored catalysts, which hinders the commercial deployment of direct CO2-FTS process. This paper presents a techno-economic assessment (TEA) of jet fuel production via CO2-FTS process at commercial-scale. Two ex-situ water removal configurations: (a) multi-stage CO2-FTS process and (b) CO2-FTS with tail gas recycle process were conducted to assess their potential for performance improvement. Process performance was evaluated using a model developed in Aspen Plus® linking with Aspen Custom Modeller® (ACM), while economic evaluation was carried out in Aspen Process Economic Analyzer®. The CO2-FTS model was based on first principles and modified Anderson-Schulz-Flory (ASF) distribution. Results indicated that both ex-situ water removal configurations can significantly improve the process performance. CO2-FTS process with 90% tail gas recycle has the best performance for both technical and economic analysis. The process achieved 85.8% CO2 conversion and 35.6% jet fuel yield with the lowest energy demand of 4.57 MWh per tonne of produced jet fuel. Moreover, it boasts the lowest minimum selling price (MSP) of jet fuel at US$2.6/kg despite incurring the second-highest capital expenditure cost of M$ 451.3. A comparison of the two ex-situ water removal configurations at 61.9% and 76.5% CO2 conversion, suggests that both processes exhibit comparable technical performances, yet the recycling of tail gas holds the potential to reduce economic costs. Consequently, this study will inspire researchers on process improvement and cost reduction of the commercial-scale CO2-FTS jet fuel production.