Multi-criteria decision analysis for the evaluation and screening of sustainable aviation fuel production pathways

Jude A Okolie; Damilola Awotoye; Meshach E Tabat; Patrick U Okoye; Emmanuel I Epelle; Chukwuma C Ogbaga; Fatih Güleç; Bilainu Oboirien

doi:10.1016/j.isci.2023.106944

Multi-criteria decision analysis for the evaluation and screening of sustainable aviation fuel production pathways

iScience. 2023 May 24;26(6):106944. doi: 10.1016/j.isci.2023.106944. eCollection 2023 Jun 16.

Authors

Jude A Okolie¹, Damilola Awotoye², Meshach E Tabat³, Patrick U Okoye⁴, Emmanuel I Epelle⁵, Chukwuma C Ogbaga^{6

7}, Fatih Güleç⁸, Bilainu Oboirien⁹

Affiliations

¹ Gallogly College of Engineering, University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK, USA.
² Department of Chemical Engineering, University of llorin, Ilorin, Kwara State, Nigeria.
³ Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada.
⁴ Instituto de Energías Renovables (IER-UNAM), Privada Xochicalco s/n Col. Centro, Temixco, Morelos 62580, México.
⁵ School of Computing, Engineering and Physical Sciences, University of the West of Scotland, Paisley, UK.
⁶ Department of Biological Sciences, Faculty of Natural and Applied Sciences, Nile University of Nigeria, Abuja, Nigeria.
⁷ Department of Microbiology and Biotechnology, Faculty of Natural and Applied Sciences, Nile University of Nigeria, Abuja, Nigeria.
⁸ Low Carbon Energy and Resources Technologies Research Group, Faculty of Engineering, University of Nottingham, Nottingham NG7 2RD, UK.
⁹ Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Johannesburg, Johannesburg, South Africa.

Abstract

The aviation sector, a significant greenhouse gas emitter, must lower its emissions to alleviate the climate change impact. Decarbonization can be achieved by converting low-carbon feedstock to sustainable aviation fuel (SAF). This study reviews SAF production pathways like hydroprocessed esters and fatty acids (HEFA), gasification and Fischer-Tropsch Process (GFT), Alcohol to Jet (ATJ), direct sugar to hydrocarbon (DSHC), and fast pyrolysis (FP). Each pathway's advantages, limitations, cost-effectiveness, and environmental impact are detailed, with reaction pathways, feedstock, and catalyst requirements. A multi-criteria decision framework (MCDS) was used to rank the most promising SAF production pathways. The results show the performance ranking order as HEFA > DSHC > FP > ATJ > GFT, assuming equal weight for all criteria.

Keywords: Biomass; Energy sustainability.

Publication types

Review