Canadian Nuclear Laboratories launches synthetic diesel, sustainable aviation fuel projects

Chalk River, ON-based Canadian Nuclear Laboratories, a Canadian nuclear science and technology laboratory, will set its sights on producing ready-to-deploy, low carbon intensity synthetic diesel, and sustainable aviation fuel.

Nuclear Laboratories has won $4.9 million in federal funding to develop two projects, in partnership with Calgary, Alta.-based Expander Energy Inc., Danbury, CT-based FuelCell Energy, Kincardine, ON-based Nuclear Promise X, and Toronto, ON-based St Marys Cement, that could serve Canada’s transport sector and zero emissions future.

“Synthetic fuels aren’t talked about quite as much as renewables and other clean energy technologies, but they come with significant environmental benefits given their production method,” said Stephen Bushby, Nuclear Laboratories’ VP of science and technology, in a press release.

“There is no shortage of carbon sources that we can leverage to produce this fuel, whether it is through direct air capture or biomass — such as wood waste, municipal waste or even agricultural waste. The infrastructure already exists to deploy them, and they require no change to engine technology.”

The first of the two projects will evaluate the economic viability of synthetic diesel production using biomass through high temperature steam electrolysis (HTSE).

The full concept, dubbed “e-Syn,” stems from using water electrolysis as part of an innovative, patent-pending process for making bio-synthetic fuels developed by Nuclear Laboratories and Expander.

It leverages Expander’s technology for biomass gasification and bio-synthetic fuel production, and FuelCell’s HTSE technology.

The resulting bio-synthetic fuel, Bio-SynDiesel and Bio-SynJet, will be comprised entirely of carbon sourced from biogenic (atmospheric) sources.  It’s expected to have very low Life Cycle Carbon Intensity.

The project will evaluate suitable sites for the construction of a plant to produce 30 million litres per year of synthetic fuel using biomass and HTSE. A full front-end engineering design will then be performed on a selected site, with the aim to build several plants in the future nationally and globally.

For the second project, the team will study the process to produce synthesis gas directly from electrolysis of water and carbon dioxide (a process referred as co-electrolysis).

This process is the subject of recent patent applications by Nuclear Laboratories (on behalf of Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd.) and Expander.

A 5 kWe electrolyser from FuelCell will be installed and tested at a facility owned by St Marys Cement, to use the carbon dioxide from the Canadian cement plant’s flue gas stream.

This project will be taking a carbon emission source, capturing it, and converting the carbon dioxide emissions into commercially useful synthesis gas.

On successful completion of the pilot work at St Marys, the project will develop a conceptual design for a large-scale commercial facility that converts the synthesis gas into e-fuels like Bio-SynDiesel, and BioSynJet, using Expander and Atomic Energy’s patent pending CETL production platform.

Both projects are being managed by Nuclear Promise X and are expected to be completed by end of the 2025.

The money is funded through the Natural Resources Canada’s Clean Fuels Fund and Energy Innovation Program.

Why invest in low carbon intensity synthetic diesel, and sustainable aviation fuel?

While increasing the supply of low-carbon electricity, including nuclear generation and renewable energy options, will be critical to reaching Canada’s net zero target, synthetic liquid fuels provide an immediate opportunity to make a meaningful reduction.

These clean fuels are “drop in” ready, providing an attractive opportunity for infrastructure investors.

Converting cellulosic biomass, such as forest residues, to synthetic diesel or sustainable aviation fuel, is an attractive and promising method to produce fuel that complies with North America’s ASTM D975 and Europe’s CEN 15940 diesel specifications.

In the future, using carbon dioxide pulled directly from air, or by capturing it from industrial processes, greenhouse gases can be repurposed into a raw material (i.e., synthesis gas) to produce these synthetic fuels and other products.

When this process is powered by a clean source of energy, such as nuclear, it becomes a low carbon technology, that does not require changes to current vehicle designs or the associated transportation infrastructure.