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Tuesday, May 12, 2026

KRICT demonstrates direct CO2-to-gasoline and naphtha production at 50 kg per day

Successful pilot-scale demonstration of direct conversion of carbon dioxide into liquid hydrocarbons without the conventional intermediate carbon monoxide conversion step.

National Research Council of Science & Technology

[1] KRICT Research Team — image:
(counterclockwise from upper right): Senior Researcher Hyung-Ki Min, Principal Researcher Hae-Gu Park, Principal Researcher Jeong-Rang Kim, Researcher Min Jun Park, Researcher Tae Jeong Lee, KRICT-UST student researcher Khasan Nasriddinov, Researcher Aeri Kim, Postdoctoral Researcher Jingyu Chen, Student Researcher Soo Hyun Ryu, and Researcher Ji Eun Min.
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Credit: Korea Research Institute of Chemical Technology(KRICT)

A Korean research team has successfully developed a technology that converts carbon dioxide (CO₂) into liquid hydrocarbons such as gasoline and naphtha, achieving pilot-scale production of 50 kg per day.

Dr. Jeong-Rang Kim’s research team at the Korea Research Institute of Chemical Technology (KRICT), in collaboration with GS Engineering & Construction and Hanwha TotalEnergies, developed catalyst and process technology that directly converts CO₂ and hydrogen into liquid hydrocarbons without intermediate steps. This work was conducted under the Ministry of Science and ICT’s Carbon Resource Platform Chemical Project.

Previously, Dr. Kim’s team completed a 5 kg per day mini-pilot plant and transferred the technology to GS Engineering & Construction and Hanwha TotalEnergies in 2022. Building on this achievement, the joint research team established Korea’s first direct CO₂ hydrogenation pilot plant capable of producing 50 kg of liquid hydrocarbons per day by late 2025. The next phase involves designing a commercial-scale process capable of producing more than 100,000 tons annually.

As geopolitical disruptions such as the recent closure of the Strait of Hormuz threaten petroleum and naphtha supply chains, technologies that transform industrial CO₂ emissions from power plants and factories into valuable resources are gaining strategic importance. This technology offers the potential to replace petroleum feedstocks used for automotive fuels and petrochemical raw materials with carbon-derived alternatives.

Conventional CO₂ conversion technologies typically involve an indirect two-step process. First, CO₂ is converted into carbon monoxide (CO) via the reverse water-gas shift (RWGS) reaction, which requires temperatures exceeding 800°C due to the chemical stability of CO₂. Subsequently, Fischer–Tropsch synthesis converts CO and hydrogen into liquid hydrocarbons under lower temperatures but high pressures, requiring complex multi-stage facilities.

The KRICT-led team overcame these limitations by developing a catalyst system that enables direct conversion in a single process. This direct hydrogenation technology allows CO₂ and hydrogen to react directly into liquid hydrocarbons without the high-temperature RWGS step.

The technology operates under relatively mild conditions of approximately 270–330°C and 10–30 bar. By incorporating multi-stage reactions and recycling unreacted materials, the system currently achieves about 50% synthesis yield for liquid hydrocarbons. The pilot plant’s daily output of 50 kg is roughly equivalent to three 20-liter jerrycans of fuel.

This achievement is particularly significant as a commercialization-enabling platform technology. Improvements in catalyst manufacturing and operating conditions enhanced process stability while reducing energy consumption compared to conventional approaches. The simplified process structure is also advantageous for lowering production costs.

Moving forward, the research team plans to accumulate long-term operational data through pilot plant optimization and demonstration. Based on these results, they will pursue commercial-scale process design, economic feasibility analysis, and greenhouse gas reduction assessments for plants capable of producing over 100,000 tons annually. Successful commercialization could substantially reduce dependence on imported petroleum and strengthen national energy security by establishing alternative carbon feedstock systems.

The researchers anticipate that, when integrated with renewable energy, this technology could become a core enabling component of Power-to-Liquids (PtL) systems, which convert renewable electricity, captured CO₂, and green hydrogen into sustainable liquid fuels.

The study was published as a cover article in the March 2026 issue of ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering (Impact Factor: 7.3), an international journal specializing in sustainable chemical technologies. Dr. Hyung-Ki Min of KRICT served as the corresponding author, and Dr. Chen Jingyu participated as the first author.

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KRICT is a non-profit research institute funded by the Korean government. Since its foundation in 1976, KRICT has played a leading role in advancing national chemical technologies in the fields of chemistry, material science, environmental science, and chemical engineering. Now, KRICT is moving forward to become a globally leading research institute tackling the most challenging issues in the field of Chemistry and Engineering and will continue to fulfill its role in developing chemical technologies that benefit the entire world and contribute to maintaining a healthy planet. More detailed information on KRICT can be found at https://www.krict.re.kr/eng/

The research was supported by the National Research Foundation of Korea through the Ministry of Science and ICT’s Carbon Resource Platform Chemical Manufacturing Technology Development Program (RS-2022-NR068677).

50 kg per day Pilot Plant for Liquid Hydrocarbon Production

Liquid hydrocarbons produced from the pilot plant and stored in 20-liter containers

Credit

Korea Research Institute of Chemical Technology(KRICT)

Journal

ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering

DOI

10.1021/acssuschemeng.5c13581

Article Title

Cascade Conversion of CO2 to Gasoline-Range Hydrocarbons over KFeZnOx and Zn/HZSM-5 Catalysts: Role of Zn as an Acidity Modifier

Friday, February 06, 2026

KRICT demonstrates 100kg per day sustainable aviation fuel production from landfill gas

Joint research by KRICT and EN2CORE Technology validates an integrated process that produces aviation fuel from abundant landfill gas—more readily available than used cooking oil—demonstrating the feasibility of decentralized SAF production

National Research Council of Science & Technology

Dr. Seungju Han, Dr. Yunjo LEE(from the right) and research team at KRICT — image:
Research team at KRICT
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Credit: Korea Research Institute of Chemical Technology(KRICT)

The aviation industry accounts for a significant share of global carbon emissions. In response, the international community is expanding mandatory use of Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF), which is produced from organic waste or biomass and is expected to significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions compared to conventional fossil-based jet fuel. However, high production costs remain a major challenge, leading some airlines in Europe and Japan to pass SAF-related costs on to consumers.

Against this backdrop, a research team led by Dr. Yun-Jo Lee at the Korea Research Institute of Chemical Technology (KRICT), in collaboration with EN2CORE Technology Co., Ltd., has successfully demonstrated an integrated process that converts landfill gas generated from organic waste—such as food waste—into aviation fuel.

Currently, the refining industry mainly produces SAF from used cooking oil. However, used cooking oil is limited in supply and is also used for other applications such as biodiesel, making it relatively expensive and difficult to secure in large quantities. In contrast, landfill gas generated from food waste and livestock manure is abundant and inexpensive. This study represents the first domestic demonstration of aviation fuel production using landfill gas as the primary feedstock.

Producing aviation fuel from landfill gas requires overcoming two major challenges: purifying the gas to obtain suitable intermediates and improving the efficiency of converting gaseous intermediates into liquid fuels. The research team addressed these challenges by developing an integrated process encompassing landfill gas pretreatment, syngas production, and catalytic conversion of syngas into liquid fuels.

EN2CORE Technology was responsible for the upstream processes. Landfill gas collected from waste disposal sites is desulfurized and treated using membrane-based separation to reduce excess carbon dioxide. The purified gas is then converted into synthesis gas—containing carbon monoxide and hydrogen—using a proprietary plasma reforming reactor, and subsequently supplied to KRICT.

KRICT applied the Fischer–Tropsch process to convert the gaseous syngas into liquid fuels. In this process, hydrogen and carbon react on a catalyst surface to form hydrocarbon chains. Hydrocarbons of appropriate chain length become liquid fuels, while longer chains form solid byproducts such as wax. By employing zeolite- and cobalt-based catalysts, KRICT significantly improved selectivity toward liquid fuels rather than solid byproducts.

A key innovation of this work is the application of a microchannel reactor. Excessive heat generation during aviation fuel synthesis can damage catalysts and reduce process stability. The microchannel reactor developed by the team features alternating layers of catalyst and coolant channels, enabling rapid heat removal and suppression of thermal runaway. Through integrated and modular design, the reactor volume was reduced by up to one-tenth compared to conventional systems. Production capacity can be expanded simply by adding modules.

For demonstration purposes, the team constructed an integrated pilot facility on a landfill site in Dalseong-gun, Daegu. The facility, approximately 100 square meters in size and comparable to a two-story detached house, successfully produced 100 kg of sustainable aviation fuel per day, achieving a liquid fuel selectivity exceeding 75 percent. The team is currently optimizing long-term operation conditions and further enhancing catalyst and reactor performance.

This achievement demonstrates the potential to convert everyday waste-derived gases from food waste and sewage sludge into high-value aviation fuel. Moreover, it shows that aviation fuel production—previously limited to large-scale centralized plants—can be realized at local landfills or small waste treatment facilities. The technology is therefore expected to contribute to the establishment of decentralized SAF production systems and strengthen the competitiveness of Korea’s SAF industry.

The research team noted that the work is significant in securing an integrated process technology that converts organic waste into high-value fuels. KRICT President Young-Kuk Lee stated that the technology has strong potential to become a representative solution capable of achieving both carbon neutrality and a circular economy.

The development of two catalysts enabling selective production of liquid fuels was published as an inside cover article in ACS Catalysis (November 2025) and in Fuel (January 2026).

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This research was supported by “Development of integrated demonstration process for the production of bio naphtha/lubricant oil from organic waste-derived biogas” (Project No. RS-2022-NR068680) through the National Research Foundation (NRF) funded by the Ministry of Science and ICT (MSIT), Republic of Korea.

Facility for Converting Landfill Gas into Syngas (CO and H₂) Suitable for SAF Production

Unlike conventional systems, the use of miniaturized and modular microchannel reactors enables facility deployment at a small scale.