REFINING INDIA 2025

refining india 2025

Hydroprocessing of waste cooking oil to SAF

S A Farooqui, R Kumar, Rakesh Baghel, P Alam, and T Khan Anil K Sinha Biofuels Division, CSIR – Indian Institute of Petroleum

tripartite agreement (NDA) and MOU with Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Limited, CSIR-IIP, and EIL have been signed to set up the demonstration commercial unit. MRPL is installing a demonstration plant to manufacture 220 BPD of SAF. The engineering consultants have com- pleted basic design engineering package, detailed feasibility report, and pre-pro- ject activities for the SAF plant at MRPL. The board approval for the plant construc- tion, equivalent to $60 million, has been obtained. The pretreatment section of the plant is in the initial procurement stage. With a feed price of Rs 70/kg (0.8 $/kg), the minimum fuel selling price (MFSP) for SAF production in India is Rs 126 Rs/kg (1.6 $/kg). Byproduct prices are taken with- out considering the premium due to green products: naphtha Rs 56/kg (0.7$/kg), gas Rs 69/kg (0.85 $/kg), H₂ Rs 177/kg (2.2 $/ kg). The CSIR-IIP process is available for commercial implementation in India and abroad for interested investors/refiners. For international recognition and cer- tification of its SAF, CSIR-IIP pre- sented its technology to the ASTM International Committee and Federal Aviation Administration in August 2020. It created a collaboration area at ASTM named AC-644-CSIR-IIP HEFA-Variant Aviation Biofuel, which is code-named Hydroprocessed Esters and Fatty Acids – Synthetic Kerosene with Aromatics, HEFA- SKA). CSIR-IIP SAF is under evaluation by ASTM D4054. The complete approval process of any new SAF at ASTM occurs in four stages (Tiers 1, 2, 3, and 4). The batches of fuel supplied by CSIR-IIP have been tested as per ASTM Tiers 1 and 2. Tiers 3 and 4 are not mandatory for all cases. The report and the newly proposed annexure have been reviewed by original equipment manufactur- ers (OEMs). Following this review, the OEMs are expected to recommend balloting.

Aviation is a significant contributor to global carbon emissions and air pollution. Jet fuel is essential for powering aircraft engines and can comprise up to 70% of a plane’s maximum takeoff weight. Due to the industry’s rapid growth and extended asset life spans, addressing its climate impact is particularly challenging. Sustainable avia- tion fuel (SAF) represents a significant leap forward in the aviation industry’s efforts to reduce environmental impact. SAF con- tributes to reducing the aviation industry’s carbon footprint and is a potential offset for CO₂ emissions. To date, 11 conversion methods for the manufacturing of SAF have been approved, and 11 more are presently being assessed by ASTM International.¹ The US has led SAF development with numerous initiatives and investments. The EU is at the forefront of SAF adoption, partly due to its ambitious climate goals. SAFs may cut CO₂ emissions by up to 80% and are presently utilised in commercial avi- ation. Waste fats, oils, greases, municipal solid waste, forestry and agricultural lefto- vers, wet wastes, and non-food crops grown on marginal land are some of the sources (feedstock) from which it may be made. 2,3 By 2050, the EU wants to reach 65%, and several nations have set even higher SAF goals. Additionally, corporations, air- lines, and cargo carriers are keen on inves- tigating and expanding the usage of SAF. 4 The US targets to reduce GHG emissions by 20% in 2030, equivalent to 3 billion gallons of SAF by 2030. The UK aims to achieve a mandate of 10% SAF by 2030 and 75% by 2050. The EU is target- ing 63% SAF by 2050, including 28% e-jets, starting with 2% SAF in 2025. On November 25th, 2024, India’s petro- leum ministry announced that the National Biofuels Coordination Committee has set a goal to blend 1% of SAF with jet fuel by 2027 and 2% by 2028. 5 CSIR-IIP began working on SAF tech- nology at a lab scale in 2008. In 2011, a pilot plant with a capacity of 20 litres per day for SAF was commissioned, based on CSIR-IIP’s design and funded by the Department of Science and Technology. In 2010, an India-Canada consortium was formed between International Science and Technology Partnerships Canada and Global Innovation & Technology Alliance India to develop the SAF technology. CSIR-IIP was the lead from India, while Pratt & Whitney was the lead from Canada. CSIR-IIP estab- lished a pilot plant facility to develop the process and successfully produced 60 litres of SAF, meeting ASTM D1655 speci- fications for Jet A/A-1. The SAF was then sent to Pratt & Whitney for testing. In 2013, the project demonstrated that CSIR-IIP’s SAF technology has the poten- tial for scale-up and commercialisation. The process ( Figure 1 ) was later scaled up from the lab scale (TRL-02) to TRL-06 with CSIR funding, followed by financial support from the Indian Air Force (IAF) for bulk fuel pro- duction and commercial development. CSIR-IIP has produced and supplied ~8,700 litres of SAF to the IAF. IAF used this SAF in ground and flight trials (logging

Pretreatment not required with certain feedstocks

Hydrogen consumption 3 wt%

Light gases Light HC, H and CO Naphtha (C-C) SAF (C-C) Diesel range (C+) Water

biomass derived oil & fats

Pretreatment

Deoxygenation/selective cracking/isomerisation

MW = 200-300

Max. SAF mode ~55% feed basis UCO as feed

Figure 1 Summary of the CSIR-IIP SAF process

Light gases & naphtha

Pretreatment (de-gumming/ bleaching)

Isomerisation/ selective cracking

Hydrotreating

HEFA-SPK (2-step)

Kerosene (IIP-SKA) (Parans (I, N, C,) and aromatics) Paranic (I, N, C) kerosene (HEFA-SPK)

Plant oils Animal fats

N-Parans isomerised to improve cold ow properties

Oxygen removed Olens saturated

Large molecules cracked to jet fuel range

Paran diesel (HEFA-SPK)

CSIR-IIP process (HEFA-SPK -1-step)

Hydroprocessing route (Hydro-deoxygenation Hydrocracking, Hydro-isomerisation Aromatisation, Cyclisation Hydrogenation)

Plant oils Animal fats

Diesel (IIP-SKA) (Parans (I, N, C,) and aromatics)

Pretreatment

Hydroprocessing (HEFA pr ocess)

Figure 2 One-step CSIR-IIP process and two-step HEFA process

lises a patented catalyst (EP3191565A1, US 10,351,782, US 10,457,875), which is easy to implement and economical com- pared to globally available SAF processes. SAF yield is in the range of 55-60% by mass of feedstock, along with other sal- able co-products of low-sulphur (<5 ppm), renewable diesel (80-90 cetane), naphtha, and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG). In the CSIR-IIP process, hydrocarbon liq- uid distillate yields up to 80%. The process uses non-noble metal-based catalysts and a feed-agnostic approach (any vegetable oil fats can be used as feedstock). CSIR- IIP SAF has been demonstrated on civilian aircraft with a 25% blending of Jet A1 and military transport planes with a 10% blend- ing of Jet A1. SpiceJet conducted a short pilot test flight and a 45-minute demonstra- tion flight in 2018, aboard a turboprop air- craft. The fuel was a 25% HEFA-SKA SATF produced by CSIR-IIP blended with ATF (Jet A-1) in one engine. The performance find- ings were satisfactory. Currently, CSIR-IIP has transferred its technology information to EIL (a public sec- tor engineering company) for the commer- cialisation of its technology, which is to be marketed by EIL to interested investors. A

90 hours) and in the Republic Day fly-past. After receiving the engine trial feedback and fuel testing reports, the Centre for Military Airworthiness & Certification (CEMILAC), the approving agency for IAF aircraft, granted provisional clearance for the use of CSIR-IIP SAF in IAF aircraft with 10% blend- ing. The company has produced 20,000 litres of SAF at its pilot facility in Dehradun. The CSIR-IIP process offers a single-step method to convert plant-derived oils and animal-derived fats into hydrocarbons. The produced SAF contains hydroprocessed esters and fatty acids synthetic kerosene with aromatics (HEFA-SKA), which is very similar to crude-based aviation fuels. The SAF approved via the two-step HEFA pro- cess does not contain aromatics and is lim- ited by the maximum blending of 50%. The differences between the CSIR-IIP SAF pro- cess and the two-step HEFA process are shown in Figure 2 . CSIR-IIP SAF can exceed 50% blend- ing, as the SAF produced in this process is closer to the jet A/Jet A-1 in hydrocarbon composition. The SAF produced contains cyclo-paraffins <15%, aromatics <10%, and normal and iso-paraffins ( Figure 3 ). The CSIR-IIP demonstration plant uti-

References 1 https://www.lexology.com

2 https://www.icao.int 3 https://www.iata.org

4 https://www.spglobal.com 5 https://www.topsoe.com 6 https://indianexpress.com

7 IN731/DEL/2011 process for preparing fatty acid methyl ester from fatty acid triglyc- erides, https://patentscope.wipo.int/search/ en/d etail.jsf?docId=IN211566199&_cid=P21- LWXI3V-72642-1 8 https://www.gminsights.com/ industry-analysis/used-cooking-oil-market 9 Tulashie, S. K., Kotoka, F., The potential of cas- tor, palm kernel, and coconut oils as biolubricant base oil via chemical modification and formula- tion. Thermal Science and Engineering Progress 2020, 16, 100480. 10 Perera, M., Yan, J., Xu, L., Yang, M., Yan, Y., Bioprocess development for biolubricant produc- tion using non-edible oils, agro-industrial byprod- ucts and wastes. Journal of Cleaner Production 2022, 357, 131956. 11 https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/ reports/lubricants-market 12 Beran, E. Experience with evaluating bio- degradability of lubricating base oils. Tribology International 2008, 41 (12), 1212-1218.

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90

CSIR-IIP SAF 50% CSIR-IIP SAF Jet-A

Parans (iso & normal)

Cyclo-parans

Aromatics

CSIR-IIP SAF 50% CSIR-IIP SAF Jet-A

79 65 50

11 21 32

9.8 14.2 18.2

Figure 3 CSIR-IIP SAF, 50% blend and Jet A compositional analysis by GCxGC