Size (BPD)
Notional capital cost ($/BPD)
Name
Status
Comments
Cellulosic biorefinery
Demonstration
<5,000
$77,000 to $285,000
US DoE
Corn ethanol
Commercial
5,000 to 10,000 $16,000 to $34,000
Many sites
China, SASOL, South Africa, GTL proposed in Louisiana 96,000 BPD, Shell Qatar Chevron; Rodeo; CA Refinery & Marathon Dickinson; ND & Martinez, Ca; ENI Venice, Italy
Fischer-Tropsch (FT), Gas to liquid (GTL)
Commercial
8,000 to 160,000 $70,000 to $410,000
Renewable feed refinery
Commercial
10,000 to 60,000 $12,000 to $45,000
Fossil refinery conversion to biorefinery
Part of the 2050 Zero CO 2 initiative
Feasibility study
All
Unknown
Table 2
degraded/oxidised. The breakdown products can be precursors to both gum/coke formation and stable emulsion formation. These species can also have greater corrosion potential, especially when a small amount of free water is present. Volatile biological breakdown products can result in objectionable odours if they are vented from the tank due to filling or natural tank breathing (daily temperature cycling). To minimise renewable feed degradation, nitrogen blanketing is strongly recommended for renewable feed tankage, with any venting routed to flare or vapour management systems. Additionally, any water level formed at the bottom of the tank should be monitored and removed aggressively to avoid formation of emulsions/solids and initiation of biological activity in the tank. Depending on the level of free fatty acids in the feed, upgraded metallurgy or special coatings may be required to mitigate against rapid metal loss. Renewable feeds also often contain high wax levels, which can solidify at low temperatures. This situation can require use of external heat exchangers (with tank mixers/circulation) or internal heating coils to ensure proper flow during cold temperature conditions. Transport of biofeed via railcars will require loop track and dedicated unloading systems. Transport via marine vessels or barges
• Blue hydrogen is hydrogen produced from SMR, but with carbon capture and sequestration added to reduce the CO₂ emissions from 30% up to 80%, depending on whether both process and fired CO₂ are captured • Green hydrogen is from water electrolysis (see Figure 4 ) with power from renewable sources (wind, solar, tidal) and is one of the preferred long-term options. • Red/pink/purple hydrogen is from electrolysis with power from nuclear-produced electricity Electrical supply Refinery electrical needs will be supplied by green sources (wind, solar, nuclear, hydropower and tidal). The ability to provide green electricity enables the refinery to maximise electricity usage, especially for power requirements, thereby reducing the fired fuel requirements for power generation. The use of electric heaters and boilers is an emerging technology to ‘electrify’ process heat and steam generation sources. Logistics Renewable feeds are much more reactive than fractions generated from crude oil. These new feeds contain oxygenate species (tri-glycerides and organic acids) and reactive olefins/diolefins that can be biologically
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