High-quality sustainable fuels and chemicals
400
Overall
300
Fuels (circular)
200
Fuels (fossil)
Reforming
Hydrocracking
De-waxing via hydro-isomerisation
100
Lubes
0
Year
2025 2030
2035 2040 2045 2050
65
Long linear hydrocarbons
Heavies
Lights
Circular
55
Hydro-de-oxygenation
Fischer-Tropsch / methanol
45
Fossil
Sugars / lignin / FOGs
CO / CO / H
35
Year
2025 2030
2035 2040 2045 2050
Figure 3 (left) Market trends in dewaxing; (right) Schematic flow chart highlighting the increased need for dewaxing in the circular domain. Feedstock-dependent conversions in green and red, versatile feedstock-independent conversions in blue
distillates are circular, yet come at an enormous energy input. For FOGs, the energy input is more similar to crude oil; how- ever, the losses to byproducts are higher. In the established refining of crude oil, the 3 wt% benefit to middle distillates relates to more than a 40% reduction in formed byproducts (see Table 1 ). Within the following analysis, such byproducts are burned off for heat recovery and are therefore directly related to CO₂ formation. Yet, despite the large reduction in byproducts, the overall bene- fit remains ca. 3 wt%, as product middle distillates form the prime source of CO₂ formed. In circular applications, the benefit per ton of middle dis - tillates is similar, about 0.1 to 0.2 ton CO₂ per ton of mid - dle distillates. However, unlike the case for fossil-based fuels, the burning of middle distillates does not count as CO₂ emissions. Accordingly, the CO₂ reductions via the improved selectivity are much higher, about 10-15%. It is assumed here that the increased energy requirement for the relevant conversions is entirely provided by net- zero sources, which may be challenging for the conversion of CO₂ due to its very high energy consumption. Again, the increased selectivity to desired products via enhanced refining using superior zeolite catalysts reduces the energy requirement per ton of end product by 4-5%. When these benefits are related to the total number of suitable dewaxing units (250) with an average capacity of 100,000 barrels per day (bpd), the savings amount to
roughly 200 million tons CO₂ per year, about 5% of the total yearly CO₂ output in the refining and chemical indus - try. Similar-sized benefits may be attained using this type of superior zeolites in hydrocracking, FCC, and aromatics conversions. Hence, from this relatively simple high-level analysis, one can appreciate the sizable impact of a versa - tile innovation, both in the future and today. Summary and outlook Innovation of environmentally benign, versatile technologies in the refining and chemical industry is attractive, as they are relatively easy to implement and have a higher chance of profitability, now and in the future. More importantly, the author believes such feedstock-independent innova - tions merit support from venture capital and governmen - tal subsidies. This support, in combination with promising business cases and positive environmental impact, should increase technology readiness levels (TRLs), lowering the risks involved in commercialisation. Only then can chances to have the technology successfully and widely adopted be maximised in the relatively conservative and Capex-heavy refining and chemical industry. Zeopore is currently commercialising its dewaxing tech- nology, as well as other applications such as hydrocracking and FCC3 , where similarly attractive business cases can be combined with significant environmental impact. Together with its partners, the company is now quantifying not only the business cases but also the environmental impact of its inno - vations throughout the supply chain. Operations have been successfully and efficiently scaled up towards the ton-scale, predicating the focus on making strategic alliances to facilitate innovations as effectively, broadly, and efficiently as possible. References 1 See example www.QPinch.com 2 See example www.voidtechnologies.com 3 D. Verboekend, Maximising hydrocracker performance and middle distillate production, PTQ Catalysis 2025 , pp.53-57. Danny Verboekend is a founder and CSO of Zeopore Technologies. He is engaged in the strategic development of novel materials using strictly low-cost and scalable manufacturing routes, for established and novel (circular) catalytic applications.
Energy of conversion
CO
Energy of feedstock
Products
Byproducts
Figure 4 Simplified overview of required energy and obtained product streams in the conversion of crude oil (top), CO₂ (mid - dle), and biomass (bottom) feedstocks to middle distillates
48
PTQ Q4 2025
www.digitalrefining.com
Powered by FlippingBook