The petrochemical industry excels in turning fossil feedstocks into fuels, chemicals and polymers. However, the feedstock pool is changing rapidly. Renewable and complex feedstocks such as vegetable oils and fats, recycled plastics, lignocellulosic bio-oils and CO₂-derived intermediates behave differently compared to fossil feedstocks, and existing refining processes were not designed for them. VTT's high-throughput catalytic upgrading services and know-how help companies to develop and adapt their processes to this new reality. We support you in everything from characterising novel feedstock and selecting the right catalytic process to running experiments and producing product samples.
Key facts
We are pioneers in upgrading lignocellulosic bio-oils, and we have successfully treated recycled plastics, animal fats and CO₂-derived intermediates, among others. We work with the kinds of complex, often contaminated materials that standard refinery setups struggle with.
VTT's expertise covers the full value chain – feedstock characterisation, process design, catalyst selection, experimental validation, analytics and scale-up – so you work with one partner instead of coordinating between several.
Get started without costly investments: our infrastructure at Bioruukki is capable of 24/7 continuous operation to enable rapid testing and piloting of new feedstocks and processes.
Leading the tricky transition to sustainable feedstocks
Fossil-based feedstocks are chemically consistent and well understood. Alternative feedstocks, whether derived from biomass, waste plastics or industrial side streams, are not. They contain oxygen, nitrogen, metals and water in varying concentrations. They are less stable, more prone to degradation and often incompatible with the processing conditions and catalysts that refineries have spent decades optimising for fossil feedstocks.
Many companies are looking to develop more sustainable end-products and novel low-emission value chains. The knowledge gap in upgrading challenging bio- or recycled feedstocks creates a real bottleneck for the industry. The intent to reduce carbon intensity is there, but the process development knowledge for these feedstocks is still catching up.
The economics compound the challenge. Building in-house capabilities to experiment with alternative feedstocks – recruiting the right specialists, commissioning reactor infrastructure, developing analytical methods – requires significant investment before a single experiment runs.
Partnering with VTT gives companies access to the expertise, equipment and analytical depth they need to prove their concept without the overhead of building the competences themselves thus saving valuable time to market.
Sustainable aviation fuel: where the opportunity is the greatest
The challenges play out across advanced fuels, chemicals and intermediates – but nowhere more acutely than in sustainable aviation fuel (SAF).
Jet fuel is the most demanding fuel product – the holy grail of advanced renewable fuels. The specifications are strict, the chemistry is unforgiving and SAF feedstock supplies are limited. At the same time, there are clear mandates and ambitions to ramp up production rapidly, such as the ReFuelEU Aviation regulation, which sets a rising minimum SAF share of the EU Aviation fuel supply through 2050.
VTT has vast experience in upgrading challenging feedstocks into jet fuel components. We support companies across the entire SAF value chain – from feedstock producers and technology developers to refiners, fuel distributors and end-users.
From desktop study to initial proof-of-concept and further pilot-scale validation
Some of our customers have access to a particular feedstock but no clear conversion pathway towards desired fuels or chemicals identified. Others have a specific catalyst they want to test, or a process they need to validate at relevant production scale. Some are facing the difficult decision of selecting a new catalyst for their existing process or just benchmarking alternative catalyst options for their next turnaround. Others are experts in their core business and are looking for partners to upgrade their side streams. Whatever your need is, our catalytic upgrading experts respond to your challenge accordingly.
Problem definition and opportunity assessment
For early-stage inquiries, VTT's experts can evaluate your feedstock sourcing and pre-treatment options, review the available in-house knowledge and literature, and map out credible catalytic upgrading routes suitable for the project. This desktop work helps you decide whether and how to proceed before committing to experimental campaigns.
Experimental validation
Once a direction is agreed, VTT designs and runs catalytic upgrading experiments using its vast experience in catalyst reaction engineering and its flexible reactor infrastructure. We propose and select industrially relevant catalyst solutions. Both in-house manufactured and commercially sourced catalysts are available, depending on the project’s needs. Experimental campaigns typically last from one to three months, depending on complexity and scope of the study. The goal is to determine a clear recommendation on process viability and next steps.
Scale-up and piloting
For customers who need to move beyond bench-scale, VTT can produce meaningful quantities of an upgraded product to support further testing, investor conversations or downstream qualification. For a startup developing a sustainable aviation fuel pathway, for instance, even a hundred litres of jet fuel component can make the difference between a concept and a fundable proposition.
Catalytic upgrading infrastructure built for challenging feedstocks
Working with alternative feedstocks is not just a chemistry challenge – it is a materials handling issue. These substances can be viscous, corrosive, thermally unstable, toxic or simply unpleasant to work with. Pumping, heating and sampling all require specific know-how and equipment.
VTT's Bioruukki piloting centre houses the reactor systems and infrastructure needed to handle these materials safely and reliably. Our equipment includes bench-scale fixed-bed reactors for challenging feedstocks, a high-throughput 4-fold parallel fixed-bed reactor system for catalyst and feedstock screening, and continuous stirred tank reactor slurry miniplant for continuous slurry operation – all designed to operate under industrially relevant conditions.
Analytics that drive the process, not just verify it
Feedstock and product analytics shape the entire experimental strategy. Molecular level understanding of the feedstock and targeted products determine selection of catalysts and process conditions and overall experimental design. Reliable on-line and off-line process analytics provide insight into catalyst and process operability throughout the project lifecycle
Standard refinery analytical methods often do not apply to bio-based or waste-derived materials. VTT has developed and adapted analytical methods specifically for these unconventional feedstocks. From feedstock intake to final product verification and catalyst analytics, VTT will design and integrate necessary analytical workflows to effectively complete the project.
What you walk away with
Every project delivers an analytical report with interpretation. We provide a clear assessment of what worked, what didn't and what should come next, written for both technical teams and internal decision-makers.
Where the project scope allows, VTT also delivers physical product samples from small analytical quantities to volumes large enough for downstream testing or stakeholder demonstration. For startups and internal R&D teams alike, those samples can be the tangible proof that turns a concept into an investment decision.
Why partner with VTT in catalytic upgrading services?
VTT's catalytic upgrading work is delivered by permanent, professionally managed expert teams with years of hands-on experience in catalytic reactions. You'll benefit from reliable timelines, consistent project communication, and people who stay with you from scoping to final delivery.
Our infrastructure sits at a useful middle ground: large enough to validate the performance in industrially relevant conditions and reach meaningful product volumes, small enough to be cost-effective compared to tying up a commercial production line for testing. And because VTT's work spans multiple disciplines, such as upstream feedstock production and pre-treatment, process modelling, sustainability and technoeconomic assessments and life-cycle analysis, projects can draw on a wider range of expertise than any single team could offer.
The bottom line is speed and cost. Working with VTT compresses R&D timelines and gives you the data you need for proof -of-concept, technology selection and investment decisions, without the overhead of building the capabilities yourself.
How to work with us
-
Contact us
Describe your feedstock, process challenge or catalyst testing need. Even if you are at an early stage, our team can help you define the right scope. -
Proposal
VTT scopes the work – whether that is a desktop feasibility study, an experimental campaign or both – and provides a clear proposal with timeline and deliverables. -
Execution and delivery
We run the experiments, analyse the products and deliver project reports with further process recommendations and, where applicable, hand over physical product samples for your next steps.
