Honeywell will provide modular processing technology and automation systems for Acelen Renewables’ planned sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) and renewable diesel facility in Bahia, Brazil, Biofuels Central reported. The package for the greenfield refinery includes Honeywell’s Ecofining technology, specialist pumps and compressors, alongside integrated control and safety systems, according to the company’s announcement on 17 June 2026.
Acelen intends to produce renewable fuels using macaúba oil, which comes from a plant native to Brazil. The announcement describes the planned refinery as potentially among the largest in the world, but provides neither a production capacity nor a start-up date. It presents the project as supporting biodiversity and an economy built around sustainability, with Honeywell’s equipment and automation intended to maximise lower-emission fuel output.
The modular approach is designed to accelerate construction and reduce costs compared with conventional project delivery, Honeywell said. Biofuels Central cited a projection that SAF demand would rise to nearly 500,000 barrels per day over the next decade. Honeywell linked its offering to refiners’ efforts to expand production more quickly and efficiently in response to that anticipated demand.
Ecofining was developed by Honeywell UOP with Eni and can process waste fats, oils and greases into renewable diesel and SAF. Honeywell Process Technology president and chief executive Ken West said advances in processing technology had already lowered SAF production costs. He also identified novel, low-cost feedstocks and integrated automation as ways to make renewable fuels more affordable and support wider adoption.
Honeywell said it had supplied more than 1,500 modular process units worldwide across multiple technologies. For the Bahia project, its control and safety systems will use the Experion PKS platform and draw on UOP’s operating expertise. The company said this combination could shorten project schedules, reduce risks and improve production performance, while providing a basis for digitalisation and data-led operational analysis.