The new TK-930 D-wax™ catalyst from Topsoe is opening doors to the rapidly growing sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) market. This dewaxing catalyst empowers refineries to take initial steps into renewable fuels production and offers considerable advantages in conventional fuel production.
Using Dewaxing Catalysts to Keep Fuel Fluid
A dewaxing catalyst directly improves cold flow properties, making it essential in processing renewable feedstocks and in the production of winter-grade diesel. Enhancing these properties enables the fuel to remain fluid and dependable, even in cold conditions.
Using an effective dewaxing catalyst such as TK-930 D-wax™ helps avoid operational issues by ensuring that fuels do not crystallize and clog filters.
TK-930 D-wax™ is a selective dewaxing catalyst designed to enhance cold flow properties and minimize yield loss during the production of both renewable fuels and conventional fuels (such as ultra-low sulfur diesel). This ensures safer and more reliable fuels for all vehicle users, from airline passengers to truck drivers.
Ignacio Costa, Technology Licensing Manager at Topsoe, explains, “Every time you dewax a fuel, you will lose some valuable yields. But in short, what is outstanding of TK-930 D-wax™ is that even under difficult operating conditions, it delivers great cold flow improvements with minimal yield loss!”
Image Credit: Topsoe
Minimizing Yield Loss Via Isomerization
The properties of crude oil or renewable feedstocks must be improved to ensure they flow well at low temperatures as they are converted into fuels like jet fuel. Dewaxing catalysts used for this purpose must carefully balance two important chemical reactions: cracking and isomerization.
Cracking involves breaking large molecules into smaller molecules (undesired), while isomerization involves rearranging molecules to improve flow (desired). Both of these reactions occur on special materials known as ‘zeolites,’ which feature tiny acidic spots designed to help trigger these two important reactions.
The TK-930 D-wax™ catalyst leveraged a specially designed and fine-tuned zeolite with many small improvements. This helps to make the process more efficient by encouraging isomerization while reducing cracking.
Ignacio continues: “The TK-930’s strong isomerization capabilities are the key to its exceptional cold flow properties and minimal yield loss. As an isomerization catalyst, our R&D team has been able to produce a catalyst with the right balance of acidity and metal content, which enables it to deliver the necessary activity without compromising performance. This outstanding work from our team helps maximize fuel yield and minimize unwanted byproducts.”
The TK-930 D-wax™ also effectively supports the removal of a range of unwanted substances, including sulfur, nitrogen, and aromatics. This removal is achieved using hydrogen (through hydrogenation) and serves to add to TK-930’s value in the production of both renewable and conventional fuels.
The Value of Co-Processing
The TK-930 D-wax™ catalyst set a new benchmark after its introduction in 2018, quickly becoming a key ingredient in hydrotreating units for the production of conventional and renewable fuels (including sustainable aviation fuel) with Topsoe HydroFlex™ technology.
Co-processing for sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) production has begun to emerge as an even more promising opportunity due to ongoing shifts in the market.
For example, ASTM approved Annex 1.2.2.1 to D1655 in 2018, allowing petroleum refineries to co-process up to 5 vol% triglycerides, free fatty acids, and fatty acid esters for blending into jet fuel.
The EU started putting in place SAF blending mandates under its broader renewable energy framework, with mandates applying from 2025.
The European Commission adopted a delegated act (Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2022/996) in 2023, featuring specifications related to the monitoring, certification, and accounting for the share of biogenic carbon in fuels produced via co-processing.
Despite these advances, a need remained for an ideal solution to co-process renewable feedstocks into SAF.
A Tried, Tested, and Proven Solution for SAF Production
The TK-930 D-wax™ has rapidly become a leading candidate since Topsoe began looking at different co-processing solutions.
Ignacio explains, “From our previous experience with SAF production, we knew a dewaxing catalyst would be critical, because the production of SAF requires dewaxing renewable feedstocks.”
“When we tested the TK-930 D-wax™ catalyst as a potential solution, we were amazed by the results. The catalyst supported SAF production through co-processing extremely well. We perform co-processing for SAF pilot tests at kerosene hydrotreater conditions, a unit not originally designed for dewaxing. This means the catalyst operates under harsh conditions, but despite this it still performs exceptionally well.”
Topsoe presented its successful co-processing test results with the TK-930 D-wax™ catalyst at the ERTC conference in November 2024. This work was done in collaboration with TotalEnergies.
Five more customers in different geographical locations have opted to use the TK-930 D-wax™ catalyst since that time, benefiting from an easier route into SAF production and demonstrating this catalyst’s potential to advance global SAF production.
Acknowledgments
Produced from materials originally authored by Topsoe.
This information has been sourced, reviewed and adapted from materials provided by Topsoe.
For more information on this source, please visit Topsoe.