CleanJoule’s CycloSAF enters ASTM International qualification program

Manufacturer CleanJoule has begun ASTM International ’s qualification process, which would allow its sustainable aviation fuel to be blended with conventional Jet A and Jet A-1 fuel. [caption id="attachment_57145126" align="alignright" width="300"] (Courtesy/CleanJoule)[/caption] ASTM International, formerly known as the American Society for Testing and Materials, develops voluntary technical standards for a range of materials, products, systems and services. The ASTM International qualification process ensures sustainable aviation fuels (SAF) like CleanJoule’s CycloSAF meet certain requirements to assure compatibility with airframes and engines when blended with conventional jet fuel, according to a Sept. 24 release from Salt Lake City-based CleanJoule. CycloSAF offers high energy density, stability CycloSAF’s synthetic blending component is 10% more energy-dense than typical Jet A and Jet A-1 and is produced via a feedstock flexible fermentation and catalysis process, according to the company. “We’re able to utilize diverse feedstocks, including waste biomass such as agricultural residue and forestry residue,” CleanJoule founder and Chief Executive Mukund Karanjikar told Air Cargo Next . “This biomass is everywhere on the planet, [allowing] CleanJoule to produce SAF at the scale that the aerospace industry requires.” The global production of 1.9 billion liters of SAF this year would be 0.5% of the projected 450 billion liters needed to reach net zero by 2050, according to an August report from sustainable practices and analysis company Sustainable Aviation Futures . While SAF use is mandated in Europe at a 2% blend beginning in 2025 , the United States has taken an incentive-based approach for production and use, along with $291 million in government-funded sustainability projects announced in August. “By decoupling feedstock conversion to hydrocarbons from the final SAF production process, we have been able to optimize each step to yield greater carbon efficiency and a lower-cost final product,” Karanjikar said. “CycloSAF offers higher energy density, more stability and increased consistency in the production process.” ASTM qualification ASTM has two qualifications — D7566, or standard specification for aviation turbine fuel containing synthesized hydrocarbons, and D4054, or standard practice for evaluation of new aviation turbine fuels and fuel additives — to which all SAF manufacturers must adhere to allow for blending into current fuel supplies, according to CleanJoule. “ASTM is the most widely utilized standard to ensure jet fuel is fit for purpose,” Karanjikar said. “To date, only eight pathways have received ASTM qualification. We are working to qualify a ninth SAF pathway that we believe is superior to existing approved routes.” The other eight pathways, according to IATA , are: Fischer-Tropsch synthesized isoparaffinic kerosene (FT-SPK); FT-SPK with aromatics (FTSPK/A); Synthesized isoparaffins (SIP); Hydroprocessed fatty acid esters and fatty acids (HEFA); Hydroprocessed hydrocarbons-synthesized isoparaffinic kerosene (HH-SPK); HC-HEFA HH-SPK; Alcohol to jet (ATJ); and Catalytic hydrothermolysis jet fuel (CHJ). CleanJoule’s CycloSAF is made primarily from cyclo-paraffins, which are hydrocarbons with a molecule containing a ring of carbon atoms joined by single bonds. [caption id="attachment_57145125" align="alignnone" width="1130"] (Courtesy/CleanJoule)[/caption] “Being ASTM-qualified would mean that the FAA -ASTM board has recognized that CycloSAF meets requirements and is deemed compatible with existing airframes and engines; it’s what enables us to sell CycloSAF at scale,” Karanjikar said. “Our CycloSAF product has undergone countless tests and has been supported by both the Department of Defense and the Department of Energy as they seek out innovations that enable decarbonization of aviation while also protecting our nation from price volatility, foreign dependence and supply chain risk,” he said.

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