Waste-Derived Jet Fuel

Aether Fuels has produced on-spec synthetic aviation fuel meeting the ASTM D7566 standard in a fully integrated demonstration, a result the company says proves its ability to scale its Aurora platform from laboratory to commercial deployment.

Integrated Demonstration

The demonstration line combined Aether’s 2.5-barrel-per-day Aurora Tri-Converter and Aurora Upgrader units with an existing Fischer-Tropsch reactor at RTI International, carrying waste-derived gaseous feedstocks through a single continuous process to yield fully upgraded liquid jet fuel. Independent testing by AmSpec confirmed the samples met the FT-SPK specification under ASTM D7566, with no new ASTM pathway certification required.

Landfill Gas And Captured CO2

The fuel was produced using mass-balanced renewable natural gas derived from landfill gas generated in Kentucky, together with captured industrial carbon dioxide. Aether believes it is the first company in North America to produce ASTM-specification synthetic jet fuel from mass-balanced RNG and captured CO2 at this scale. Because the FT-SPK route is already approved, the output can be blended with conventional kerosene at up to 50 percent without modifying aircraft, pipeline or airport fuelling systems.

Path To Commercial Scale

The achievement builds on an earlier Tri-Converter pilot with GTI Energy and marks a scale-up of more than 50 times from standalone demo units. It informs Aether’s planned Project Beacon facility in Singapore, set to produce around 2,000 tonnes (50 barrels per day) a year — roughly twenty times the capacity of the demonstration equipment — from industrial waste and biomethane as the first next-generation SAF plant in Southeast Asia. With more than $60 million raised to date, including agreements with Singapore Airlines, JetBlue and FlyORO, Aether’s larger project pipeline targets ASTM D7566-compliant fuel with lifecycle greenhouse gas reductions above 70 percent versus conventional jet fuel.