Fischer-Tropsch liquid fuel (gasoline, kerosene and diesel cuts, not fractionated)

Activity Fischer-Tropsch e-fuel from CO2 and hydrogen by reverse water-gas shift and cobalt FT synthesis, GLO: the inventory of 1 kilogram of its reference product, attributional, cut-off.

Calculation maturity: not assessed Design maturity: Concept (research)Not independently reviewede-fuels-1:fischer-tropsch-fuel-rwgs-co2-h2:product:fischer-tropsch-fuelPreliminaryReport a problem with this dataset
Research outputAn inventory from a research design at the design maturity its process states, not verified plant data: check its calculation maturity and review status before use. Background activities are referenced by name only; no background data is included. All caveats

What it is

Per 1 t of FT liquid fuel (mainly C5+ after wax hydrocracking, cuts not split), gate-to-gate, from H2 and captured CO2 delivered at the gate. A sourced conceptual inventory: flows from one open process simulation (König et al. 2015), burner CO2 and water from the element balance. No operating plant behind it.

Reference product
1 kilogram of Fischer-Tropsch liquid fuel (gasoline, kerosene and diesel cuts, not fractionated)
Chemical
fischer-tropsch-fuel
CAS
not available
Code
e-fuels-1:fischer-tropsch-fuel-rwgs-co2-h2:product:fischer-tropsch-fuel
Dataset
fischer-tropsch-fuel-rwgs-co2-h2 version 0.1.0 · UUID ac37108d-b1fc-55bc-b5c7-0e4788699ebd
Activity UUID
not available (the library assigns none; use the code)
Database
cheme-as-code-atlas-preview-a3c52e4 (version preview-a3c52e4)
Process
Fischer-Tropsch e-fuel from CO2 and hydrogen by reverse water-gas shift and cobalt FT synthesis
Geography
GLO · background inputs with a site rule link at the user's site location (default DE)
Time period
2015 · valid until 2020
Technology
reverse water-gas shift at 900 degC and 2.5 MPa with internal and external recycle, low-temperature FT on cobalt at 225 degC, hydrocracking at 6 MPa; methanol-to-fuels and co-electrolysis are not modelled · level new
Boundary
gate-to-gate: CO2 compression, RWGS reformer fired with the plant's own fuel gas, cobalt FT synthesis, product recovery, wax hydrocracking; H2 and CO2 from outside, electrolysis and capture excluded
Classification
ISIC Rev.4 1920, 2011 (taxonomy/families.yaml (ISIC Rev.4) of the process's families)
System model
attributional, cut-off (docs/system-model.md, methodology 1.1.0)
Allocation
mass, 100 % of the dataset to this product (rule single-output, from default)
one product: nothing to allocate
Rights
CC-BY-4.0

Exchanges per 1 kilogram of Fischer-Tropsch liquid fuel (gasoline, kerosene and diesel cuts, not fractionated)

As exported: allocated and scaled to the reference product. Provenance: 6 calculated. Pedigree scores (1 best, 5 worst): reliability, completeness, temporal correlation, geographical correlation, further technological correlation.

Preliminary2 exchanges are not yet linked to a background dataset. They count no burden, so the inventory is incomplete: do not read a result from it as complete.
InputAmountUnitProvenancePedigreeLinked to
Hydrogen, at 2.5 MPa
feed:H2
König, D.H., Baucks, N., Dietrich, R.-U., Wörner, A. (2015) Simulation and evaluation of a process concept for the generation of synthetic fuel from CO2 and H2. Energy 91:833-841, doi:10.1016/j.energy.2015.08.099 (accepted manuscript read in DLR elib 98357), section 4.1, p. 9: 3.01 t/h H2 per 5.5 t/h fuel; electrolysis outside the boundary
0.5473kilogramcalculated4 4 4 3 4unlinked
unlinked, no technosphere mapping: no mapping (no chemical slug or factor id); add it to lci/mappings.yaml technosphere or to the process's lca/mappings.yaml exchanges
Carbon dioxide, gaseous, 0.1 MPa
feed:CO2
König, D.H., Baucks, N., Dietrich, R.-U., Wörner, A. (2015) Simulation and evaluation of a process concept for the generation of synthetic fuel from CO2 and H2. Energy 91:833-841, doi:10.1016/j.energy.2015.08.099 (accepted manuscript read in DLR elib 98357), section 4.1, p. 9: 22.9 t/h CO2 per 5.5 t/h fuel. Capture outside the boundary. co2_source ASSUMED fossil point source (the source names cement and steel flue gases, section 1, p. 4); a biogenic or DAC supply changes the origin of the burner CO2 and of the product carbon
4.164kilogramcalculated4 4 4 3 4unlinked
unlinked, no technosphere mapping: no mapping (no chemical slug or factor id); add it to lci/mappings.yaml technosphere or to the process's lca/mappings.yaml exchanges
Electricity, plant utilities (compressors, cooling-water pumps, refrigeration)
feed:electricity
König, D.H., Baucks, N., Dietrich, R.-U., Wörner, A. (2015) Simulation and evaluation of a process concept for the generation of synthetic fuel from CO2 and H2. Energy 91:833-841, doi:10.1016/j.energy.2015.08.099 (accepted manuscript read in DLR elib 98357), eq. 9 and section 4.3: utility power = fuel LHV / PtL efficiency - electrolyser AC power (4.87 MW). The electrolyser's power is outside the boundary (it makes the H2 feed)
electricity
0.8846kilowatt hourcalculated4 4 4 3 4market for electricity, medium voltage (electricity, medium voltage, DE, site location) in your background (default ecoinvent-3.11-cutoff)
Reaction water (RWGS knock-out and FT water) to wastewater treatment
output:wastewater
closes the source's plant mass balance: H2 + CO2 + air - fuel - flue gas (section 4.1). ASSUMED: the RWGS steam is raised from this water inside the plant, and the water goes to treatment, not to the electrolyser
3.002kilogramcalculated4 4 4 4 4Atlas (plant): wastewater to treatment, per kg (Atlas unit proxy) (wastewater, by mass, GLO)
compatible: grade the input names wastewater only; wastewater (Wastewater treated) is taken; unit kilogram; system model cutoff (one database); allocation mass (single-output); boundary plant gate of a site utility: no utility market yet (docs/markets.md)

Elementary flows

FlowDirectionCompartmentAmountUnitProvenancePedigree
Carbon dioxide, fossil
349b29d1-3e58-4c66-98b9-9d1a076efd2e
emissionair1.063kilogramcalculated4 4 4 4 4
Water
075e433b-4be4-448e-9510-9a5029c1ce94
emissionair5.137e-4cubic metercalculated4 4 4 4 4

Where these numbers come from: each exchange names its source above; the dataset is processes/e-fuels-1/lca/datasets/fischer-tropsch-fuel-rwgs-co2-h2.yaml in library version a3c52e4.

Used by

No other activity of this database links to it.

How good it is

Review
Not reviewed: no LCI review record yet
Data quality
not available
Mass and carbon closure
Not available: a hand-written dataset: no lca/manifest.json records its balance
Change report
Not available: this build has no change report against an earlier release.

KPI benchmark positions

KPIValueReference rangePosition
Share of the CO2 carbon fed that ends in the liquid fuel– kg/kg0.455 to 0.455 kg/kg
Zang, G., Sun, P., Elgowainy, A., Bafana, A., Wang, M. (2021) Life Cycle Analysis of Electrofuels: Fischer-Tropsch Fuel Production from Hydrogen and Corn Ethanol Byproduct CO2. Environ. Sci. Technol. 55:3888-3897, doi:10.1021/acs.est.0c05893 (peer-reviewed)
not evaluated
Liquid fuel LHV per LHV of the hydrogen fed– MJ/MJ0.582 to 0.582 MJ/MJ
Zang, G., Sun, P., Elgowainy, A., Bafana, A., Wang, M. (2021) Life Cycle Analysis of Electrofuels: Fischer-Tropsch Fuel Production from Hydrogen and Corn Ethanol Byproduct CO2. Environ. Sci. Technol. 55:3888-3897, doi:10.1021/acs.est.0c05893 (peer-reviewed)
not evaluated
CO2 fed per t of Fischer-Tropsch liquid fuel– t/t6.81 to 6.81 t/t
Zang, G., Sun, P., Elgowainy, A., Bafana, A., Wang, M. (2021) Life Cycle Analysis of Electrofuels: Fischer-Tropsch Fuel Production from Hydrogen and Corn Ethanol Byproduct CO2. Environ. Sci. Technol. 55:3888-3897, doi:10.1021/acs.est.0c05893 (peer-reviewed)
not evaluated
Electricity used by the synthesis plant per t of FT liquid fuel (electrolysis excluded)– kWh/t1,369 to 1,369 kWh/t
Zang, G., Sun, P., Elgowainy, A., Bafana, A., Wang, M. (2021) Life Cycle Analysis of Electrofuels: Fischer-Tropsch Fuel Production from Hydrogen and Corn Ethanol Byproduct CO2. Environ. Sci. Technol. 55:3888-3897, doi:10.1021/acs.est.0c05893 (peer-reviewed)
not evaluated

How to use it

Downloads

A file with this activity alone is not available: each file above is the whole database, and the line under it says how to find this activity there.

import bw2data as bd
from cheme_as_code_lci import install

bd.projects.set_current("my-project")   # holds your licensed background + biosphere3
install("cheme-as-code-atlas-preview-a3c52e4.xlsx", background="ecoinvent-3.11-cutoff", location="DE")
activity = bd.get_activity(("cheme-as-code-atlas-preview-a3c52e4", "e-fuels-1:fischer-tropsch-fuel-rwgs-co2-h2:product:fischer-tropsch-fuel"))

While any exchange of the database has no mapping, install() writes nothing and only lists the unlinked exchanges. So the last line finds no activity until the gaps are mapped: the download section gives the ways to use the database now.

How to cite

Fischer-Tropsch liquid fuel (gasoline, kerosene and diesel cuts, not fractionated), from Fischer-Tropsch e-fuel from CO2 and hydrogen by reverse water-gas shift and cobalt FT synthesis (dataset fischer-tropsch-fuel-rwgs-co2-h2 0.1.0), ChemE-as-Code Process Atlas LCI database preview-a3c52e4, activity e-fuels-1:fischer-tropsch-fuel-rwgs-co2-h2:product:fischer-tropsch-fuel. Cite the Process Atlas paper (in preparation, 2026), by Artur M. Schweidtmann and Jana M. Weber, and the ChemE-as-Code Process Atlas LCI database version preview-a3c52e4.

DOI: none yet (the Process Atlas paper is in preparation)

For the data, cite the Process Atlas paper; for the platform that builds and checks it, the ChemE-as-Code paper.

Schweidtmann, A. M. & Weber, J. M. (2026, in preparation). Process Atlas: an open, git-native, reproducible library and life cycle inventory of chemical processes (working title).

BibTeX
@unpublished{schweidtmann_process_atlas,
  author = {Schweidtmann, Artur M. and Weber, Jana M.},
  title = {{Process Atlas: an open, git-native, reproducible library and life cycle inventory of chemical processes (working title)}},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://atlas.cheme-as-code.org},
  note = {in preparation}
}

Schweidtmann, A. M. (2026). ChemE-as-Code: An Open-Source Platform for Agentic AI in Chemical Engineering. arXiv:2611.07947. https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2611.07947

BibTeX
@misc{schweidtmann_cheme_as_code,
  author = {Schweidtmann, Artur M.},
  title = {{ChemE-as-Code: An Open-Source Platform for Agentic AI in Chemical Engineering}},
  year = {2026},
  eprint = {2611.07947},
  archivePrefix = {arXiv},
  doi = {10.48550/arXiv.2611.07947},
  url = {https://arxiv.org/abs/2611.07947}
}