How to Improve Fuels With Hydrogenation

Hydrogenating processes makes for a cleaner overall fuel.

Hydrogenating vegetable oils may be a no-no for dietary health, but when it comes to alternative fuels, hydrogenation technologies lead to clean, sulfur-free biodiesel or jet fuel. Various companies are leading the way in developing oil-based fuel, called Hydrotreated Vegetable Oil. It is made differently from conventional biodiesel in that oil is refined with hydrogen and diesel fractions rather than undergoing transesterification with alcohol. Adding hydrogen to the mix refines the fuel, which can be chemically fine-tuned and customized to possess certain desirable characteristics.

Instructions

1. Use any combination of waste, animal and virgin vegetable oil as a feedstock, as in Neste Oil's NExBTL technology. Catalytically hydrogenate the oil to an alkane. Remove the oxygen. Obtain a clear paraffin that is identical chemically to diesel fuel and can be used as such without engine modification.

2. Combine vegetable oil with diesel using Petrobras' H-BIO technology to catalytically crack and cook the mixture using hydrogen to produce an oil-based diesel. Note the difference between this process and typical biodiesel production, which processes oil separately to produce biodiesel, which is then combined with regular diesel. Create a hydrogenated biodiesel using H-BIO that mixes the oil and diesel at the outset and results in a low-sulfur product.

3. Adapt to the feedstock available and the products you wish to obtain by "Bio-Synfining" oils with hydrogen to produce a variety of fuels. Start with your choice of feedstock, whether it be low-grade edible or inedible oils. Take heat, hydrogen and catalysts to make renewable synthetic diesel and jet fuel. Adjust parameters to change the quality of the fuel; i.e., to make it a "winter" blend, which can withstand extreme cold temperatures without gelling.

4. Undergo "ecofining" to hydrogenate and improve the quality of an oil-based fuel. Hydrotreat a given oil using either a one-step base metal catalytic scheme or a noble metal catalyst in a two-stage scheme that can help achieve high cetane numbers and low aromatic content in fuel. Adjust these processing conditions to obtain the desired fuel smoke point, odor and stability.

References

• US Department of Energy Alternative Fuels and Advanced Vehicles Data Center: Hydrogenation-Derived Renewable Diesel
• University of Wisconsin Madison Agricultural & Applied Economics: Bioethanol and Biodiesel in Brazil
• Neste Oil: NExBTL Diesel
• Syntroleum: Bio-Synfining - Dynamic Fuels Plant
• UOP: UOP/Eni Ecofining™ Process for Green Diesel Production