Emerson to Automate Europe’s First Greenfield Sustainable Aviation Fuel Plant With DeltaV DCS
Time:2026-09-23 Browse: 0
Emerson has been selected to provide automation technologies for a new sustainable aviation fuel production facility being developed by SkyNRG in Delfzijl, the Netherlands. The project represents an important development for both the sustainable aviation fuel industry and the industrial automation sector, as the new facility will be designed around an integrated digital control and safety architecture from the beginning.
Emerson announced on September 15, 2026, that it had received a contract from Technip Energies to provide automation technology for the SkyNRG sustainable aviation fuel facility. The company describes the project as Europe's first dedicated greenfield sustainable aviation fuel production facility. The plant is currently under construction and is expected to become fully operational in 2028, with an anticipated annual production capacity of approximately 100,000 tonnes of sustainable aviation fuel.
For industrial automation professionals, the project is particularly interesting because it combines a distributed control system, safety instrumented system, plant asset management, intelligent field devices, digital engineering, and distributed I/O technology within a new process plant.
The project demonstrates how modern process automation is increasingly being designed as an integrated architecture rather than as separate control, safety, instrumentation, and maintenance systems.
A New Generation of Sustainable Aviation Fuel Production
Sustainable aviation fuel has become an important area of investment as governments and aviation companies seek ways to reduce the carbon intensity of air transportation.
The SkyNRG facility in Delfzijl will use residual fats and greases as feedstock to produce a sustainable "drop-in" aviation fuel. The fuel can be blended with conventional aviation fuel without requiring modifications to aircraft or existing fueling infrastructure.
From a process automation perspective, a facility of this type requires precise control of multiple interconnected process units.
Feedstock preparation, chemical processing, hydrogen production, product separation, utilities, storage, safety systems, and environmental monitoring all need to operate together.
This makes the control architecture particularly important.
A modern DCS must provide continuous monitoring and control of process variables such as temperature, pressure, flow, level, composition, and equipment status.
At the same time, the safety system must be capable of responding independently when dangerous process conditions occur.
This is why integrated control and safety systems are becoming increasingly important in new process plants.
Emerson DeltaV DCS Will Form a Core Part of the Automation Architecture
Emerson will provide its DeltaV integrated control and safety system for the SkyNRG project.
The automation architecture will include the DeltaV Distributed Control System and DeltaV Safety Instrumented System. These systems will support process control, safety shutdown functions, and fire and gas detection across the facility.
For process industries, the DCS is essentially the central control layer responsible for maintaining stable plant operation.
Operators can monitor process conditions, adjust operating parameters, respond to alarms, and analyze equipment status through the control system.
A DCS also allows control strategies to be distributed across different process areas.
This is particularly useful for large chemical and energy facilities where hundreds or thousands of field devices may be installed across the plant.
In a sustainable aviation fuel facility, reliable control is important because feedstock properties can vary and the production process contains multiple stages.
The automation system therefore needs to provide consistent control while giving operators clear information about changing process conditions.
Safety Instrumented Systems Add a Separate Layer of Protection
Process control and process safety have different purposes.
The DCS is primarily responsible for keeping the production process operating within normal conditions.
A Safety Instrumented System, or SIS, provides an additional layer of protection when potentially hazardous conditions occur.
For example, if a process variable moves beyond a predefined safety limit, the safety system may initiate a shutdown or other protective action.
The SkyNRG facility will use Emerson's DeltaV Safety Instrumented System as part of its integrated control and safety architecture. The system will support safety shutdown and fire and gas detection functions.
This type of architecture is widely relevant to industries such as oil and gas, chemicals, refining, pharmaceuticals, energy, and other process industries.
It also highlights an important difference between conventional factory automation and process automation.
A discrete manufacturing machine may depend heavily on PLC-based control, while a large continuous process facility may rely on DCS and SIS technologies working together.
Modern plants can also contain both PLC and DCS systems, particularly where packaged equipment and specialized machinery are integrated into a larger process.
Digital Automation Begins Before Plant Startup
One of the notable aspects of the SkyNRG project is that the facility is being designed as a new greenfield plant.
A greenfield project provides an opportunity to implement a modern automation architecture before the facility begins production.
This can be different from modernizing an existing plant.
In a brownfield project, engineers often need to maintain compatibility with legacy controllers, old I/O systems, existing field wiring, older communication networks, and equipment that cannot easily be replaced.
A greenfield project provides greater flexibility.
Automation engineers can define the control architecture, network design, instrumentation strategy, safety system, operator interfaces, asset management system, and engineering workflow as part of one coordinated project.
This can reduce some of the integration challenges associated with older facilities.
However, greenfield projects also create their own challenges.
The automation system must be engineered correctly before commissioning, and different equipment packages must communicate reliably with the central control architecture.
This is why early engineering alignment between the process designer, EPC contractor, automation supplier, equipment manufacturers, and plant owner is important.
Electronic Marshalling Can Simplify Field Connections
Another important technology involved in the project is Emerson's DeltaV Electronic Marshalling with distributed CHARMs.
Traditional automation projects can require large amounts of field wiring.
Each field device may need to be connected to an appropriate I/O channel through marshalling cabinets and termination systems.
As the number of instruments increases, wiring can become a significant part of project cost and engineering effort.
Electronic Marshalling provides another approach.
Distributed CHARMs allow different types of field signals to be configured more flexibly.
This can help reduce the amount of traditional marshalling infrastructure and provide greater flexibility when the plant design changes during the engineering process.
For large process automation projects, this flexibility can be valuable.
Engineering designs frequently evolve as equipment specifications are finalized.
If the automation architecture can accommodate changes without requiring extensive rewiring, project execution can become more efficient.
Emerson states that the DeltaV Electronic Marshalling architecture can reduce field wiring infrastructure costs and accommodate late-stage design changes.
Asset Management Will Support Long-Term Maintenance
Automation does not end when a plant starts production.
Once the facility is operational, maintenance becomes a major part of the plant lifecycle.
The SkyNRG project will also use Emerson's AMS Device Manager plant asset management software.
The system is intended to provide information about intelligent field devices, device health, and diagnostics during commissioning and ongoing maintenance.
This is increasingly important in modern industrial plants.
A process facility can contain thousands of instruments, including pressure transmitters, temperature transmitters, flow meters, level instruments, control valves, analyzers, and other intelligent devices.
Traditional maintenance approaches may rely heavily on scheduled inspection.
Modern asset management systems can supplement scheduled maintenance with diagnostic information.
For example, an intelligent field device may provide information indicating abnormal performance before the device completely fails.
Maintenance personnel can then investigate the issue before it develops into a larger production problem.
This approach is closely connected to predictive maintenance and industrial digitalization.
Process Automation and Industrial Data
Modern DCS platforms generate large amounts of operational data.
Temperature, pressure, flow, level, valve position, motor status, alarm conditions, and other process information can be collected continuously.
Historically, much of this information was primarily used for real-time control.
Today, industrial companies increasingly want to use operational data for additional purposes.
Historical data can support process optimization, maintenance planning, energy management, quality analysis, and production improvement.
This means the role of the DCS is gradually expanding.
The control system is no longer simply an operator interface and process controller.
It can also become an important source of structured operational data for higher-level industrial software.
For a new plant such as the SkyNRG SAF facility, designing this data architecture from the beginning can provide advantages over attempting to connect modern analytics platforms to an older control system later.
Automation Is Critical for Complex SAF Processes
Producing sustainable aviation fuel is not simply a matter of mixing raw materials.
The process involves multiple chemical and physical operations.
The SkyNRG facility will include a hydroprocessed esters and fatty acids process, a feedstock pre-treatment unit, and an on-site hydrogen plant based on Technip Energies' technology.
Each process area introduces different control requirements.
Feedstock preparation may require accurate flow and temperature control.
Hydrogen-related operations require careful pressure and safety management.
Reaction processes require stable operating conditions.
Product separation requires accurate control of temperature, pressure, flow, and composition.
Storage and transfer systems require reliable level and flow monitoring.
These systems must then operate as one coordinated production process.
This is where a DCS becomes particularly valuable.
Instead of treating each unit as a separate machine, the control system can provide operators with a unified view of plant operations.
PLC and DCS Systems Can Work Together
Although the project is centered around a DCS architecture, PLC technology remains highly relevant to modern process plants.
Packaged equipment is often supplied with dedicated PLC-based control systems.
Compressors, pumps, packaging equipment, water treatment systems, electrical equipment, and other machinery may have their own local controllers.
These systems need to exchange information with the plant-level DCS.
Communication between PLCs and DCS platforms is therefore an important part of automation engineering.
Engineers need to define which system controls each process function, how data is exchanged, what happens during communication failures, and how alarms and interlocks are managed.
A successful integration strategy can prevent isolated automation islands from developing across the plant.
Fire and Gas Detection Is Another Important Automation Layer
Industrial facilities handling fuels and process gases require comprehensive safety monitoring.
Fire and gas detection systems can monitor the plant for potentially dangerous conditions.
When abnormal conditions are detected, the safety architecture can initiate predefined protective responses.
The SkyNRG automation project includes fire and gas detection within the integrated control and safety architecture.
The integration of process control, safety shutdown, and fire and gas detection also demonstrates how automation technology has expanded beyond simple process regulation.
Modern automation systems need to coordinate production efficiency with equipment protection and personnel safety.
Why This Project Matters to the Industrial Automation Industry
The SkyNRG project is significant for the industrial automation industry because it demonstrates the role of automation in a new generation of energy and chemical facilities.
Sustainable fuels are creating new industrial production infrastructure.
Each new plant requires process instrumentation, control systems, safety systems, industrial networks, field devices, engineering software, asset management solutions, and maintenance technologies.
This creates opportunities across the industrial automation supply chain.
Companies involved in DCS, PLC, industrial sensors, control valves, transmitters, industrial communication, safety systems, automation engineering, and spare parts can all become part of these projects.
It also demonstrates why automation lifecycle management is becoming increasingly important.
A plant that is expected to operate for decades needs a control architecture that can be maintained, upgraded, diagnosed, and expanded throughout its operating life.
The Future of Process Automation
The SkyNRG SAF project provides a clear example of how process automation is evolving.
The modern plant is not based only on controllers and field instruments.
It combines DCS technology, safety systems, intelligent field devices, asset management, digital engineering, distributed I/O, industrial networks, and operational data.
The objective is to create a plant that can be commissioned safely, operated efficiently, maintained effectively, and adapted as production requirements change.
As more new energy and sustainable manufacturing facilities are developed around the world, these requirements are likely to become increasingly important.
For automation engineers, the future process plant will require knowledge across multiple technology layers.
DCS and PLC programming will remain important, but engineers will also need to understand industrial networking, cybersecurity, asset management, digital diagnostics, safety systems, and data integration.
The SkyNRG facility illustrates this transition.
A sustainable aviation fuel plant may have a different purpose from a traditional refinery or chemical plant, but the underlying automation requirements remain highly sophisticated.
Reliable process control, safety instrumentation, intelligent field devices, and digital maintenance systems are essential to transforming a complex industrial process into a stable and manageable production operation.
As construction continues toward the planned 2028 startup, the SkyNRG project will be an interesting example of how modern DCS and industrial automation technologies can support the development of new process industries.
For the global automation market, it also reinforces a broader trend: new industrial facilities are increasingly being designed around integrated digital automation from the first stage of engineering rather than adding digital technology after the plant has already been built.
