Perspective
Open Access
Feedstock Quality and Conversion Efficiency as Key Determinants of Sustainable Aviation Fuel Production: Pathways, Reactions, and Challenges
1
Tecnológico Nacional de México/IT de Los Mochis, Los Mochis, Sinaloa 81259, México
2
Department of Petroleum Engineering, Kazan Federal University, Kazan 420008, Russia
* Corresponding Author:
Guillermo Felix,
[email protected]
Volume 2, Issue 2
2026
Received: 19 March 2026
Accepted: 24 March 2026
Published: 20 April 2026
Article Information
Published in
Journal of Chemical Engineering and Renewable Fuels
Volume/Issue
Volume 2, Issue 2, 2026
Pages
39-45
Abstract
Sustainable Aviation Fuel is the most viable near-term strategy for decarbonizing commercial aviation. Its performance depends fundamentally on the quality of the feedstock and conversion efficiency. This paper examines the four principal ASTM-certified pathways: Hydroprocessed Esters and Fatty Acids (HEFA), Fischer-Tropsch Synthetic Paraffinic Kerosene (FT-SPK), Alcohol-to-Jet (ATJ), and Power-to-Liquid (PtL/eSAF). Additionally, it highlights how feedstock chemical composition, contaminants, moisture content, and carbon intensity affect conversion outcomes, including fuel yield, catalyst performance, minimum fuel selling price, and lifecycle greenhouse gas reduction. Feedstock cost accounts for 60-80% of the minimum fuel selling price across bio-based pathways. Fatty acid chain-length profiles directly determine hydrocarbon yield and jet-fraction selectivity in HEFA. Lignocellulosic heterogeneity is the principal technical bottleneck in gasification-FT routes. PtL pathways decouple production from biological feedstock constraints by substituting renewable electricity cost and CO$_2$ source quality as the governing variables.
Graphical Abstract
Keywords
sustainable aviation fuel
reactions
HEFA
Fischer-Tropsch
Alcohol-to-Jet
Power-to-Liquid
Data Availability Statement
Not applicable.
Funding
This work was supported by the Russian Science Foundation (Project No. 21-73-30023, extended on May 22, 2025). The project website is available at: https://rscf.ru/project/21-73-30023/.
Conflicts of Interest
The author declares no conflicts of interest.
AI Use Statement
The author declares that AI tools were used in the preparation of this manuscript. Grammarly was employed to improve language readability and writing quality, and Gemini was used to assist in the creation of Figure 1. The author takes full responsibility for the content, accuracy, and integrity of the manuscript.
Ethical Approval and Consent to Participate
Not applicable.
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APA Style
Felix, G. (2026). Feedstock Quality and Conversion Efficiency as Key Determinants of Sustainable Aviation Fuel Production: Pathways, Reactions, and Challenges. Journal of Chemical Engineering and Renewable Fuels, 2(2), 39–45. https://doi.org/10.62762/JCERF.2026.241704
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TY - JOUR AU - Felix, Guillermo PY - 2026 DA - 2026/04/20 TI - Feedstock Quality and Conversion Efficiency as Key Determinants of Sustainable Aviation Fuel Production: Pathways, Reactions, and Challenges JO - Journal of Chemical Engineering and Renewable Fuels T2 - Journal of Chemical Engineering and Renewable Fuels JF - Journal of Chemical Engineering and Renewable Fuels VL - 2 IS - 2 SP - 39 EP - 45 DO - 10.62762/JCERF.2026.241704 UR - https://www.icck.org/article/abs/JCERF.2026.241704 KW - sustainable aviation fuel KW - reactions KW - HEFA KW - Fischer-Tropsch KW - Alcohol-to-Jet KW - Power-to-Liquid AB - Sustainable Aviation Fuel is the most viable near-term strategy for decarbonizing commercial aviation. Its performance depends fundamentally on the quality of the feedstock and conversion efficiency. This paper examines the four principal ASTM-certified pathways: Hydroprocessed Esters and Fatty Acids (HEFA), Fischer-Tropsch Synthetic Paraffinic Kerosene (FT-SPK), Alcohol-to-Jet (ATJ), and Power-to-Liquid (PtL/eSAF). Additionally, it highlights how feedstock chemical composition, contaminants, moisture content, and carbon intensity affect conversion outcomes, including fuel yield, catalyst performance, minimum fuel selling price, and lifecycle greenhouse gas reduction. Feedstock cost accounts for 60-80% of the minimum fuel selling price across bio-based pathways. Fatty acid chain-length profiles directly determine hydrocarbon yield and jet-fraction selectivity in HEFA. Lignocellulosic heterogeneity is the principal technical bottleneck in gasification-FT routes. PtL pathways decouple production from biological feedstock constraints by substituting renewable electricity cost and CO$_2$ source quality as the governing variables. SN - 3070-1058 PB - Institute of Central Computation and Knowledge LA - English ER -
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@article{Felix2026Feedstock,
author = {Guillermo Felix},
title = {Feedstock Quality and Conversion Efficiency as Key Determinants of Sustainable Aviation Fuel Production: Pathways, Reactions, and Challenges},
journal = {Journal of Chemical Engineering and Renewable Fuels},
year = {2026},
volume = {2},
number = {2},
pages = {39-45},
doi = {10.62762/JCERF.2026.241704},
url = {https://www.icck.org/article/abs/JCERF.2026.241704},
abstract = {Sustainable Aviation Fuel is the most viable near-term strategy for decarbonizing commercial aviation. Its performance depends fundamentally on the quality of the feedstock and conversion efficiency. This paper examines the four principal ASTM-certified pathways: Hydroprocessed Esters and Fatty Acids (HEFA), Fischer-Tropsch Synthetic Paraffinic Kerosene (FT-SPK), Alcohol-to-Jet (ATJ), and Power-to-Liquid (PtL/eSAF). Additionally, it highlights how feedstock chemical composition, contaminants, moisture content, and carbon intensity affect conversion outcomes, including fuel yield, catalyst performance, minimum fuel selling price, and lifecycle greenhouse gas reduction. Feedstock cost accounts for 60-80\% of the minimum fuel selling price across bio-based pathways. Fatty acid chain-length profiles directly determine hydrocarbon yield and jet-fraction selectivity in HEFA. Lignocellulosic heterogeneity is the principal technical bottleneck in gasification-FT routes. PtL pathways decouple production from biological feedstock constraints by substituting renewable electricity cost and CO\$\_2\$ source quality as the governing variables.},
keywords = {sustainable aviation fuel, reactions, HEFA, Fischer-Tropsch, Alcohol-to-Jet, Power-to-Liquid},
issn = {3070-1058},
publisher = {Institute of Central Computation and Knowledge}
}
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Copyright © 2026 by the Author(s). Published by Institute of Central Computation and Knowledge. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made.
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