Co-processing sustainable aviation fuel at petroleum refineries to reduce costs and carbon intensity

Sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) will play a critical role in decarbonizing the aviation industry. Among SAF production pathways, alcohol-to-jet (ATJ) stands out for its scalability, supported by abundant feedstock availability and a well-established bioethanol industry. However, significant reductions in SAF carbon intensity (CI) require the use of future feedstocks (e.g., cellulosic) whose adoption is hindered by high capital costs for feedstock processing and ethanol upgrading. Here, we evaluate the financial viability and carbon intensity implications of integrating cellulosic SAF production with petroleum-derived jet fuel production through co-processing and the ATJ pathway. Three levels of integration are evaluated: (i) standalone as a benchmark, (ii) co-located, and (iii) repurposing. Results show the CI of miscanthus-derived SAF demonstrates an 83.8% [76.2 to 100%] reduction relative to jet fuel. Meanwhile, co-processing, when sharing outside battery limit (OSBL) units and process units, brings down the capital cost for SAF production by 46.3% and results in a lower minimum fuel selling price (MSP) of 6.46 USD·gal-1 [5.80 to 7.62 USD·gal-1] including the opportunity cost from intervention to the petroleum refinery. Global sensitivity analyses reveal MSP is negatively correlated with the co-processing ratio. Overall, this work provides insights into the potential of SAF co-processing in advancing the transition to low-carbon aviation future.