INERATEC secures state-of-the-art catalysts from Sasol for the production of sustainable e-fuels

24 Apr 2024

Germany

INERATEC Container

Hamburg/Karlsruhe, 24 April 2024 - INERATEC and Sasol have signed a five-year contract for the supply of Fischer-Tropsch catalysts. INERATEC will use Sasol's state-of-the-art catalysts for the production of sustainable e-fuels, e.g. for aviation.

The catalysts will be used, among others, in the first large-scale industrial Power-to-Liquid (PtL) plant that INERATEC is currently building in Frankfurt, Germany, which is scheduled to go into operation in 2024. The PtL plant will produce e-fuels from CO2 and green hydrogen. INERATEC plans to produce up to 2,500 tonnes of e-fuels per year in this pioneering project. These will be processed into sustainable synthetic kerosene (sustainable aviation fuel). As a substitute for conventional kerosene, it will make a significant contribution to improving the environmental footprint of aviation.

Sasol's catalysts influence the nature and speed of the Fischer-Tropsch reaction in the PtL process, thereby increasing the efficiency of the chemical conversion process. This improves process yield and significantly increases fuel production for the same resource input. In short, with the best and most advanced catalysts and the most efficient chemical reactors, less green hydrogen and green energy is needed for fuel synthesis. With this supply agreement, INERATEC has secured Sasol's latest generation of catalysts, which are considered the most efficient on the market and already enable high kerosene yields.

"Our aim is to supply our CO2-neutral e-fuels in particular to those sectors that will continue to rely on liquid fuels and chemical molecules in the future, such as aviation, shipping, heavy haulage and the chemical industry. These currently come almost exclusively from fossil sources," says Dr Tim Böltken, CEO of INERATEC. "In order to replace these in a sustainable way, the expansion of our production capacities is key. Productivity plays an important role here. The use of Sasol's catalysts in INERATEC's load-flexible PtL plants creates the highest production efficiencies on the market".

Partnership with vision: joint research project CARE-O-SENE

Sasol and INERATEC have a long-standing partnership. "Our two companies have been fully collaborating since 2015. We are united by the vision of shaping a better, more sustainable future through innovation," says Dr Dirk Schär, Technical Manager Marketing and Sales Catalysts at Sasol and co-leader of the international research project CARE-O-SENE. "Our joint work in the CARE-O-SENE project underlines this.”

The project, funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) with €30 million, aims to further improve existing Fischer-Tropsch catalysts and develop completely new concepts to make the production of sustainable paraffin on an industrial scale more economical. The research consortium combines the industrial partners Sasol and INERATEC with highly innovative research institutes from Germany and South Africa. These include the Helmholtz Centre Berlin for Materials and Energy (HZB), the Fraunhofer Institute for Ceramic Technologies and Systems (IKTS), the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) and the University of Cape Town (UCT).


Press contact:
Torsten Titze
Communications Manager: Advanced Materials & Performance Solutions
Tel.: +49 40 63684-1434
E-Mail: torsten.titze@de.sasol.com 


Isabel Fisch
PR & Communication Manager
Tel: +49 721 86484460
E-Mail: isabel.fisch@ineratec.de

 

About Sasol Germany GmbH

Sasol Germany GmbH is a manufacturer of high-quality chemical products with production facilities in Brunsbüttel and Marl and headquarters in Hamburg. Around 1,700 employees and almost 60 apprentices produce innovative, sustainable products and develop solutions for the processing industry. The company offers a wide range of products, including substances for the production of detergents and cleaning agents, paints and coatings, cosmetics and pharmaceutical products. In addition, specialities such as high-purity and ultra-high-purity aluminas are used, for example, as catalyst carriers in catalytic converters for the automotive industry, industrial applications and high-performance abrasives.

Sasol Germany GmbH is part of the South African Sasol Group, a leading integrated chemical and energy company with almost 29,000 employees in 22 countries manufacturing and marketing first-class products. The Sasol Group also includes the Sasol Chemicals, Sasol Energy and Sasol ecoFT divisions. Established in 2021, Sasol ecoFT utilises Sasol's proprietary technology, expertise and experience to produce sustainable fuels and chemicals from green hydrogen and sustainable carbon sources via the Power-to-Liquids (PtL) process.

 

About INERATEC

INERATEC is a pioneer in the field of Power-to-Liquid applications. The company supplies sustainable e-fuels as well as chemical products. Modular chemical plants for power-to-X and gas-to-liquid applications use hydrogen from renewable electricity and greenhouse gases such as CO2 to produce e-kerosene, CO2-neutral gasoline, clean diesel or synthetic waxes, methanol or SNG. Founded in 2016, INERATEC has already implemented industrial-scale power-to-liquid plants at German sites to boost the availability of sustainable fuels and chemicals in various transport sectors such as aviation. Further information can be found via www.ineratec.com