Holistic Evaluation Method for Concept-Level Study\nof Power-to-Liquids Technologies for e‑Kerosene Production

The\ngrowing interest in power-to-liquids (PtL) due to the worsening\nclimate crisis is leading to a growing number of new technologies\nand process concepts being developed, including electrolyzers, liquid\nsynthesis and fuel upgrading processes, along with novel ways of integrating\nthese process units. To make sense of the technologies and systematically\nassess them, while attaining an understanding of the unique characteristics\nof each technology and concept, a levelized multicriteria evaluation\nframework is needed. The present work aims to provide a holistic,\nhierarchical evaluation method for e-kerosene production pathways\nand presents a novel and comprehensive approach to evaluating technological\nefficiency, environmental impact, and economic performance of industrial\nprocesses. It explores a selection of indicators, grouped under the\n3E performance criteria (engineering, economic and environmental),\nrelevant for PtL technologies for e-kerosene production, and uses\nthem in combination with the Analytical Hierarchy Process to construct\na weighted evaluation framework. Focus is put on production of e-kerosene,\ndue to the challenges faced by the aviation industry regarding decarbonization.\nA spreadsheet modeling approach for generating the inputs to the framework\nis developed and a process based on the Fischer–Tropsch technology\nis used as a case-study to demonstrate the modeling approach and evaluation\nframework. The evaluation framework was developed in previous work\nof the authors, while the present work provides a deeper elaboration\nof the framework’s background and offers an initial analysis\nof its application based on the herein described case study. A detailed\ndescription of the methodology is provided. The evaluated process\ndisplayed a balanced performance in respect to the indicators, which\nwas expected. A rather heavy weighing toward a few indicators was\nobserved.