Abstract
AbstractDrop‐in biofuels have been defined as functionally equivalent to petroleum‐based transportation fuels and are fully compatible with the existing petroleum infrastructure. They will be essential in sectors such as aviation if we are to achieve emission reduction and climate mitigation goals. Currently, ‘conventional’ drop‐in biofuels, which are primarily based on upgrading of lipids / oleochemicals, are the only significant source of commercial volumes of drop‐in biofuels. However, the necessary increased, future volumes will likely come from ‘advanced’ drop‐in biofuels based on biomass feedstocks such as forest and agriculture residues. Biocrudes / bio‐oils produced from lignocellulosic feedstocks using thermochemical technologies such as gasification, pyrolysis, and hydrothermal liquefaction need to be further upgraded to drop‐in biofuels. However, advanced drop‐in biofuels have been slow to reach commercial maturity due to significant technical challenges, high capital costs, and the challenge of generally lower oil prices. It is likely that the co‐processing of drop‐in biofuels with conventional petroleum refining could considerably reduce capital costs. Initially, co‐processing is likely to be established through the upgrading of conventional / oleochemical feedstocks (lipids). Lipids are readily available in large volumes (global production in 2017 was ~185 million metric tonnes) and can be more easily integrated into oil‐refinery processes. In contrast, lignocellulose‐derived biocrudes / bio‐oils are not yet available in significant volumes and are more complex to co‐process in a refinery. The likely strategies for co‐processing of oleochemicals (lipids) and bio‐oil and biocrude feedstocks based on different insertion points within the refinery infrastructure are discussed. © 2019 The Authors. Biofuels, Bioproducts and Biorefining published by Society of Chemical Industry and John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Highlights
The development of biofuels that can contribute to the decarbonization of long-distance transport, drop-in biofuels, which are functionally equivalent to petroleum fuels and fully compatible with existing infrastructure, are becoming increasingly interesting to sectors such as aviation, marine, rail, and long-distance trucking.[1]
It is likely that co-processing of lipids in the fluid catalytic cracker (FCC) will be advantageous as potential synergies between the lipids and the fossil feed can result in increased conversion and increased octane number of the products, as well as oxidative stability.[15,53]
Drop-in biofuels, which are functionally equivalent to petroleum fuels and fully compatible with existing infrastructure, will be essential if the world is to achieve significant emission reductions in long-distance transport sectors such as aviation, marine, rail, and long-distance trucking
Summary
The development of biofuels that can contribute to the decarbonization of long-distance transport, drop-in biofuels, which are functionally equivalent to petroleum fuels and fully compatible with existing infrastructure, are becoming increasingly interesting to sectors such as aviation, marine, rail, and long-distance trucking.[1]. The fluid catalytic cracking (FCC) unit is typically used to ‘crack’ heavy molecules (the usual feed is heavy gas oil, vacuum gas oil, or residues), and is the main process for production of gasoline (50%) and propylene.[33] The FCC insertion point should be economically attractive as no external hydrogen is required and FCC catalysts are more tolerant than hydroprocessing catalysts of higher oxygen levels in the biofeeds.[34] The FCC catalysts, usually zeolite catalysts in a silica or alumina matrix, are continuously regenerated on site by burning off any coke deposits in a regenerator attached to the FCC unit before recirculating the catalyst.
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