Tom N. Kalnes

Green Diesel: A Second Generation Biofuel

Environmentally-conscious design of processes and products is increasingly viewed as an important strategy in the sustainable development of new refining and chemical processes. This paper discusses a new process technology developed by UOP and Eni S.p.A; the UOP/Eni EcofiningTM process to produce green diesel from vegetable oil. This novel process utilizes catalytic saturation, hydrodeoxygenation, decarboxylation and hydroisomerization reactions to produce an isoparaffin-rich diesel fuel from renewable feedstock containing triglycerides and fatty acids. The resultant biofuel product has a high cetane value, a lower gravity, good cold flow properties and excellent storage stability. Green diesel is completely compatible for blending with the standard mix of petroleum-derived diesel fuels, thus providing significant value to the refiner. The process for producing green diesel operates at mild operating conditions and integrates well within existing petroleum refineries. In contrast to fatty acid methyl esters, where fuel properties depend on feed origin and process configuration, green diesel product is independent of feed origin and the fully deoxygenated biofuel is readily blended with conventional diesel fuel. A life cycle assessment (LCA) of this promising new biofuel production technology has been undertaken to quantify the intrinsic benefits of green diesel production over the current practice of converting various forms of lipids to fatty acid methyl esters. This paper will describe the technology, discuss the results of the LCA study and summarize the advantages this new technology can offer over other processing routes.

Chapter 18:Renewable Diesel and Jet-Fuel Production from Fats and Oils

Hydroprocessing of fats and oils for the production of renewable diesel fuel is a commercial technology with more than 800 million gallons per year of announced capacity. Both co-processing with petroleum feeds and dedicated process technologies to produce a 100% renewable fuel are available with the latter providing flexibility to control diesel product properties and produce renewable aviation fuel.Similar in composition to Fischer-Tropsch derived fuels, hydrotreated renewable diesel (HRD) and jet (HRJ) are fully deoxygenated, paraffin-rich hydrocarbon liquids that can either be used neat or blended in any proportion with existing petroleum fuels. Complete deoxygenation of fats and oils is critical to ensuring the production of transportation fuels that are chemically identical to components already found in current petroleum hydrocarbon fuels, with high thermal stability and maximum specific energy. The extent to which this straight chain paraffinic product is isomerized and hydrocracked depends on site-specific targets for fuel quality such as type of fuel, viscosity, cloud point, and cetane number. On-going certification efforts, engine tests and fleet testing continue to document the many benefits of these fuels including high specific energy content, good blending properties, and lower emissions.Life cycle assessments of both HRD and HRJ from a variety of feedstock sources have been completed. When produced from waste streams or sustainable energy crops, HRD and HRJ exhibit a much smaller carbon footprint than their petroleum-derived counterparts. Expanded cultivation of new “non-food” sources of fat and oil feedstock is needed to enable significant market growth.

LCA of a spent lube oil Re-refining process

Abstract Although re-refining of spent lubricating oils (used oils) has been practiced with varying technical and commercial success for over the past 50 years, a sustainable processing technology has yet to become widely accepted. Poor on-stream efficiency, inconsistent product quality, and careless management of feedstock contaminants and byproducts have often resulted in widespread environmental problems and poor economics. Environmentally-conscious design of processes and products is increasingly viewed as an integral strategy in the sustainable development of new refining and chemical processes. Life cycle assessment is becoming the preferred methodology for comparing the environmental impacts of competing processes. A life cycle analyses of a promising new re-refining technology, the HyLube TM process, has been undertaken to quantify the intrinsic benefits of HyLube re-refining over the current practice of recovering used oils for fuel value