BioVeritas launches sustainable aviation fuel process technology

BioVeritas LLC announced Oct. 23 that it is launching The BioVeritas Process™ for sustainable aviation fuel (SAF).

The technology converts biomass via fermentation into volatile fatty acids (VFAs), a key precursor for a range of high-value products, most notably SAF.

The company, then known as Terrabon, first began exploring sustainable fuels over 15 years ago, long before the term “SAF” was mainstream.

BioVeritas said it has since significantly advanced the technology, particularly in fermentation product distribution and acid recovery at its market demonstration unit in Bryan, Texas.

The BioVeritas Process, when applied to SAF, unlocks more feedstocks and uses less energy to deliver aviation fuel with superior carbon intensity, according to the company.

These capabilities free the platform from some of the key constraints that face the SAF industry, BioVeritas stated.

The BioVeritas Process™ for SAF is comprised of three steps: directed mixed-culture fermentation to produce VFAs, low-energy acid recovery, and VFA-to-SAF conversion.

First, directed mixed-culture fermentation transforms a wide variety of abundant feedstocks—from purpose-grown crops to agricultural residues and waste streams—into a mixture of VFAs in a controlled and tunable ratio.

This control is exerted by directing the microbial physiology and ecology of the mixed culture.

Second, low-energy acid recovery is enabled by BioVeritas’ proprietary extraction process and efficient water recycling.

Combined, these attributes minimize both distillation and evaporation requirements that typically drive high energy demand in other processes.

Lastly, the VFA-to-SAF step converts the longer-chain VFAs into SAF through ketonization followed by hydrodeoxygenation and isomerization.

The latter two processes are those used in the commercially established hydrotreated esters and fatty acids (HEFA)/hydrotreated vegetable oil (HVO) process.

The company said its BioVeritas Process overcomes many of the fundamental constraints of other SAF production technologies, like limited feedstock and green energy availability.

To accelerate its SAF commercialization, BioVeritas has appointed Alan Del Paggio as chief commercial officer.

With more than 35 years of technical and commercial leadership at Shell, much of it in advanced biofuels, and three years at Licella, BioVeritas said Del Paggio brings knowledge, experience and strategic leadership to the company as it moves into the fast-growing SAF market.

“BioVeritas is focused today on helping the aviation industry achieve their net-zero carbon-emission targets and the refining industry meet their renewable volume obligations,” said BioVeritas CEO David Austgen. “There’s no shortage of innovative technologies being developed but it is widely expected SAF supply will lag demand through mid-century. Our aim is to join incumbent SAF producers to close the supply-demand gap. Many of the existing SAF technologies face challenging constraints. BioVeritas’ process overcomes many of these constraints and is well-positioned for unlimited growth in the future. Our low carbon-intensity SAF solution is a win-win-win for the aviation industry, refining industry and the planet.”

BioVeritas LLC is a portfolio company of Ara Partners, a private-equity firm specializing in industrial-decarbonization investments.