JM launches HyCOgen technology

Johnson Matthey has launched HyCOgen, which is designed to play a pivotal role in converting captured CO2 and green hydrogen into sustainable aviation fuel (SAF).

By combining HyCOgen with FT CANS Fischer Tropsch technology (developed in collaboration with BP), Johnson Matthey offers an integrated, scalable solution for use in the efficient and cost-effective production of renewable power based SAF.

HyCOgen, Johnson Matthey’s Reverse Water Gas Shift technology, is a catalysed process to convert green hydrogen and CO2 into carbon monoxide combined with additional hydrogen to form synthesis gas (syngas) essential for making fuels and chemicals.

The integration with the FT CANS technology provides an end to end, optimised, and highly scalable process that turns over 95% of the CO2 into high quality synthetic crude oil. This synthetic crude oil can be further upgraded into sustainable drop-in fuel products, including aviation fuels, renewable diesel and naphtha.

The scalability of the integrated HyCOgen/FT CANS solution enables cost-effective deployment across a wide range of project sizes – from small-scale, fed by hydrogen from a single electrolyser, through to world-scale with multiple large electrolyser modules.

Jane Toogood, Executive at Johnson Matthey, said, “Given the challenges associated with new propulsion technologies and airport infrastructure, plus the long asset life of aircraft, there are significant hurdles in moving from hydrocarbon-based aviation fuel to alternatives such as battery electric or hydrogen.”

HyCOgen solution, along with the FT CANS technology, can help increase the supply of SAF through its efficient production at scale.