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Way more sustainable jet fuel is coming

Biofuels producer, World Energy, has announced plans to expand its synthesized paraffinic kerosene (SPK) site in Paramount, California in partnership with Air Products and Honeywell.

Some context:

The US airline industry consumes about 21 billion gallons of traditional kerosene each year. Currently, blending SPK with traditional kerosene is the only viable method of reducing emissions associated with aviation. SPK is similar to kerosene, but not identical, so it is typically blended at a level of 50%. In any case, the US only makes 5 million gallons of synthesized paraffinic kerosene (SPK) each year. That's why the government is incentivizing its production and why we're seeing so many new plant announcements.

So, what's going on here?

World Energy has been operating this SPK site at a rate of 3.8 million gallons per year since 2016 using Honeywell's process technology (yes, that's pretty much the US's entire production capacity). The site hydrogenates plant-based oils (like soybean oil) and then refines the product. The plan is to expand the site to 340 million gallons per year by 2025 for $2 billion.

Zooming out:

We've talked about other companies getting into the SPK game, but all of them (Phillips 66, Marathon, and Valero) produce a mixture of SPK, renewable diesel, and renewable naphtha. World Energy's site is unique because it will only make SPK. It's also interesting because World Energy was the one behind United Airlines' successful SPK test (which used 100% SPK instead of blending at 50%).

Helium is coming to Texas

Industrial gases company, Linde, has announced plans to produce helium at its site in Freeport, Texas.

What you need to know:

Unlike most of the world's natural resources, helium has a tendency to escape Earth and head into space. After it's produced by the radioactive decay of uranium and thorium deep underground, helium either escapes into space or gets trapped along the way. That's why most of the world's helium production is associated with natural gas production—helium gets stuck in the same rocks natural gas does. We end up using most of that helium to do cryogenics (MRI machines and semiconductors), welding, and purging (removing liquid fuels from rockets).

Here's the deal:

This year was meant to be helium's big comeback after 15 years of short supply, but recent fires at a new Russian plant (plus a war) sort of put an end to that. Linde is stepping in and planning to "efficiently capture helium from Freeport’s LNG plant". That sounds a lot more like a boil-off gas recovery plant than the cryogenic distillation of natural gas, but it's not super clear. Either way, Linde is planning to start up the new plant in 2024, so it's still going to be a while before the helium supply reaches equilibrium.

Some more headlines:

• Covestro started working on a TPU films capacity expansion

• BASF and thyssenkrupp are working on a dehydrogenation technology

• MHI is licensing a carbon capture technology to a Russian company

• Oxy Low Carbon Ventures and Enterprise are considering a CCS project in Texas

• LG Chem developed a new polymer that prevents battery thermal runaway

Product of The Day:

Today, we're breaking down magic erasers.

If you've never used one of these bad boys it's probably time to give it a try (here's an antique ad from 2005 to inspire you). While it was Proctor & Gamble who first brought the Mr. Clean Magic Eraser to the market, it was BASF who came up with the material.

The eraser itself is actually a copolymer consisting of formaldehyde, melamine, and sodium bisulfite. BASF actually has a little write up on this stuff (they call it Basotect) if you're interested. Next time you see (or use) one of these erasers try to remember that formaldehyde is made from methanol (which is made from syngas,from methane) and that melamine is made from urea (which is made from ammonia, from methane).

In case you're interested:

• Book: Maybe you've never heard of the Scientific Design company, but if you're in the industry, this one is worth a read.*

• Podcast: Check out this episode about a BASF trainee working as a process engineer.

• Tip: Interested in saving and investing money with ease? Acorns will round up your purchases and invest them for you.*

• Safety Moment: Watch this video to get a crash course of how Pressure Safety Valves work, their main components, and their applications.

The bottoms:

You made it to the bottoms, so please enjoy this meme as your reward.