c Hydrogen generation
a Re nery
b Electricity generation
2020
Hydrogen based Other
Gasoline
43%
Blue H
Solar
86%
Oil
150,000 bpd
Diesel
28% 10% 19%
Jet fuel
14%
Wind
Other
Diesel and jet fuel Polymers Chemicals Other (including polymers and chemicals)
Green H
2050
Hydropower Nuclear Fossil
Plastic waste Biomass CO
25% 25% 50%
50% 25% 25%
Grey H
2021 94 million tons
2050 71,135 TWh
2020 26,745 TWh
2050 528 million tons
81,000 bpd
Figure 4 Evolution of refinery feedstocks and products 2020-2050 ( Vogt and Weckhuysen, 2024 )
Refinery configuration for integration of synthetic fuels General considerations The development of a feasible, realistic, and fundable synthetic fuels unit, along with the introduction of circular economy concepts, needs to consider the following evolution of feedstocks and products. As shown in Figure 4 , the overall demand for hydrocarbon products within the EU is expected to fall between 2020 and 2050 in line with the transition to renewable electricity and e-fuels. In the following analysis, the starting point is a high-conversion refinery of 100,000 BPD
(barrels per day) capacity under a modern but classical configuration. Configuration, capacity, and emissions of a traditional refinery The detailed refinery configuration was determined using a model based on USC–SPIRAL to assess the size, product slate, and associated CO 2 emissions for each production unit and the overall refinery complex, as shown in Table 1 . See refinery process configuration online: bit.ly/4cHVcsW
Proposed new ‘hybrid’ configuration
The analysis and concepts presented by the author modify the base case refinery configuration of the 21st-century concept of ‘hybrid configurations’ or configurations where traditional refinery units coexist with carbon capture from the main CO 2 producers, blue and green hydrogen, and the production of synthetic fuels. This ‘hybrid’ concept is designed to facilitate the progressive incorporation of advanced and circular
Unit
Description
Capacity (kBPD)
CO 2 emisisons
(MTPA)
CDU1 HVU1 LNHT HNHT HCU HTD ISOM
Crude atmospheric distillation unit
100
112,803 65,589 218,424 108,038 319,930 101,644 275,733 208,438 39,983
Vacuum distillation unit VGO hydrocracking unit
42 44
Light naphtha hydrotreating unit Heavy naphtha hydrotreating unit Distillates hydrotreating unit Light naphtha isomerisation unit Heavy naphtha reforming unit
6
16
8 6
REFOR SATGAS
16
Saturated gas unit Total process units
5
1,450,580 629,370
HMU
Hydrogen production unit
70
Base case total CO 2 emissions
2,079,952
economy concept fuels, minimising the impact on existing refinery units,
Table 1 Base case – generic 100 kBPD refinery capacity for each process unit with CO 2 emissions as output from the model
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