ASTM approves new SAF production pathway called Catalytic Hydrothermolysis Jet

In New Mexico, Applied Research Associates, Inc. (ARA) and Chevron Lummus Global LLC (CLG) are working toward a more sustainable future by developing novel solutions to meet the global need for sustainable aviation fuels.  The team is proud to announce that ASTM International has approved the new production pathway for Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) called “Catalytic Hydrothermolysis Jet,” or CHJ.

ASTM D7566 Annex A6 was approved on Dec. 15 and was published in the revised specification for “Aviation Turbine Fuel Containing Synthesized Hydrocarbons,” ASTM D7566-19b on January 29. 

The new annex allows blending of up to 50 percent of ARA and CLG’s ReadiJet™ with petroleum-derived jet fuel.  ReadiJet™ is produced by the Biofuels ISOCONVERSION process, which is jointly developed by ARA and CLG. CLG serves as the single point of contact for licensing and engineering of Biofuels ISOCONVERSION.

Biofuels ISOCONVERSION technology consists of hydrothermal conversion and hydrotreating operations that convert waste fats, oils, and greases into jet fuel that is nearly indistinguishable from petroleum jet fuel.  ReadiJet™ contains a uniform distribution of all hydrocarbon types observed in petroleum fuels including aromatic, cycloparaffin, isoparaffin, and normal paraffin compounds. 

ReadiJet™ is a very clean, high-thermal-stability fuel that exhibits density and energy content equivalent to petroleum Jet A or Jet A-1. ReadiJet™ was the first sustainable aviation fuel to be flight tested neat, unblended, when it was flown in a National Research Council Canada Falcon 20 aircraft on Oct. 12, 2012.

ARA, CLG, and their partners produced 70,000 gallons of ReadiJet™ that met the U.S. Navy procurement specification for renewable JP-5 (called CHCJ-5).  The U.S. Navy successfully flew nine EA-18G Growler flights on 100 percent CHJ (no blending with petroleum) as part of its MILSPEC certification of the fuel in 2016.