Technoeconomic assessment of bio-jet fuel production through alcohol-to-jet (ATJ) pathways from lignocellulosic biomass

• Seven bio-jet fuel pathways were developed from commercially available alcohols via Aspen Plus®. • The best-case scenario produced bio-jet at lowest $1.29/L ($/1.95/kg) with a 47% yield. • The net energy ratio ranged from 1.5 to 5.2, demonstrating favorable energy efficiency. • After reactor sizing, a comprehensive techno-economic analysis was performed. • Scale factors across all scenarios (0.55–0.68) were consistent with typical petrochemical facilities. Bio-jet fuel productions are generally classified as Alcohol-to-Jet (ATJ), Oil-to-Jet (OTJ), Gas-to-Jet (GTJ), and Sugar-to-Jet (STJ) pathways. This study focuses on ATJ, which converts alcohols to jet fuel via catalytic processes. Using Aspen Plus®, five different configurations with two cases each were simulated from ethanol. In case A, ethanol was produced from an integrated upstream syngas fermentation process based on fast pyrolysis of spruce wood chips (2,000 dry tonnes/day). In case B, merchant ethanol was used. Two additional single-case scenarios employed n-butanol and iso -butanol. Comprehensive techno-economic models were developed for all cases. The best-case scenario achieved a bio-jet fuel production cost of $1.95/kg ($1.29/L) with a 47% yield. To understand the differences in production costs at different capacities, plant capacities ranging from 48 to 12,000 tonnes/day were evaluated. Scale factors were estimated for the overall plants and sub-process units. Sensitivity analysis revealed that feedstock cost has the largest influence on production cost, followed by plant lifetime, discount rate, and capital cost. Monte Carlo simulations were used to estimate the mean and most-likely production costs under both base and best scenarios at a 95% confidence level. Bio-jet is nearly carbon–neutral, offering both climate and energy security benefits.