Syzygy Plasmonics Demonstrates Groundbreaking CO2-to-Fuel Solution with RTI International.
Syzygy Plasmonics announced today that it along with the nonprofit research institute RTI International have successfully demonstrated an all-electric CO2-to-Fuel production pathway at RTI’s facility in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina, USA. The new technology can significantly decarbonize transportation by converting two potent greenhouse gases, carbon dioxide (CO2) and methane (CH4), into low-carbon-intensity fuels that can be used to lower the carbon footprint of fossil-based jet fuel, diesel, and gasoline. The pilot project was sponsored by Equinor Ventures and Sumitomo Corporation of Americas (SCOA).
Results from this first-of-a-kind (FOAK) demonstration are providing data that will be used to design and build commercial CO2-to-Fuel plants enabled by Syzygy’s technology. The project combined three of Syzygy’s CO2-reforming reactors with RTI’s Fischer-Tropsch (FT) pilot plant to produce FT crude, which can be further refined into aviation-grade kerosene. When fed by captured CO2 and combined with biogas, landfill gas, or renewable natural gas, this solution delivers extremely low-carbon and low-cost sustainable aviation fuel (SAF).
Trevor Best, Syzygy CEO, said:
This project showcases our ability to fight climate change by converting harmful greenhouse gases into fuel.
“Our light-driven reactors produce valuable syngas at a ratio that is ideal for feeding Fischer-Tropsch units to produce SAF. Syzygy syngas can also be used to produce diesel, gasoline, and methanol. At scale, we’re talking about significantly reducing and potentially eliminating the carbon intensity of shipping, trucking, and aviation. This is a major step toward quickly and cost effectively cutting emissions from the heavy-duty transport sector.”
This project marks the successful integration of multiple Syzygy reactor cells in a multi-cell stack at a third-party site, demonstrating Syzygy’s pathway for scaling its technology. At commercial scale, a typical Syzygy plant will consume nearly 200,000 tons of CO2 per year, the equivalent of taking 45,000 cars off the road.
Sameer Parvathikar, Ph.D., director of renewable energy and energy storage at RTI, said:
The results of this demonstration are encouraging and represent an important milestone in our collaboration with Syzygy.
“We are pleased to have played an impactful role in shaping this promising technology.”
In addition to this CO2-to-Fuel demonstration, Syzygy’s Ammonia e-Cracking™ technology has completed over 2000 hours of performance and optimization testing at its manufacturing facility in Houston, Texas. Syzygy is in negotiations to finalize a site and partners for building a commercial CO2-to-Fuel plant and is accepting orders for its Rigel™ photocatalytic reactor cells, which are designed for the commercial production of e-fuels and hydrogen.
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Syzygy Plasmonics Demonstrates Groundbreaking CO2-to-Fuel Solution with RTI International. source
