Refinery integration, scale-up and certification for aviation and marine biofuels production

Project Information

REFOLUTION

Grant agreement ID: 101096780

DOI

10.3030/101096780

EC signature date 9 December 2022

Start date 1 January 2023

End date 31 December 2026

Funded under

• Climate, Energy and Mobility

Total cost

€ 10 146 216,75

EU contribution

€ 9 275 275,13

Coordinated by

SINTEF AS
Norway

Periodic Reporting for period 2 - REFOLUTION (Refinery integration, scale-up and certification for aviation and marine biofuels production)

Reporting period: 2024-07-01 to 2025-06-30

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

Among solutions to reach an EU net zero emissions economy by 2050, advanced biofuels have the potential to save several gigatons of CO2 emission per year. However, their development is hampered by a complex feedstock to be processed, the massive investments needed for each new refinery unit, the lack of certification for market adoption and above all, social acceptance of the biofuel production itself.

REFOLUTION will tackle these limitations by delivering a cost-effective production (reduction of CAPEX by 50% and OPEX by 45%) of advanced biofuels from woody biomass for the aviation and marine sectors via a process that can be implemented in existing European refineries. REFOLUTION will demonstrate the transformation of bio-oils produced from fast
pyrolysis (FP) into advanced biofuels, through intermediate process steps (stabilisation, fractionation) combined with downstream co-processing technologies at different levels of severities (temperature, hydrogen consumption, carbon yield) for targeting different applications: Fluid Catalytic Cracking (FCC) co-processing for aviation (TRL7) and marine sectors, and hydrotreating for marine biofuels (TRL6).

REFOLUTION is gathering 14 leading EU entities covering the full biofuel value chain to deploy risk-mitigation pathways for successful implementation into existing refineries. The project will deliver a comprehensive toolbox of models, standards, social assessment and exploitation pathways for interfacing with current refinery models and available documentation for further replication in other existing refineries, from a dozen in 2030 several hundred pyrolysis units
delivering bio-feedstocks to the 90+ refineries in 2050.

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

The main achievements and activities in REFOLUTION for the second reporting period are the following:

FCC co-processing:
FCC co-processing with pyrolysis oil and vacuum gas oil (VGO) will be done at three different scales in the REFOLUTION project; lab-scale, pilot-scale and demo scale. The lab-scale co-FCC unit various tests with different grades of pyrolysis oils, conditions and catalysts have been carried out. Pilot scale testing is near completion where a product batch of about 100 litres have been made ready for distilaltion and further upgrading. Commissioning of the larger demo unit with co-feeding is ongoing.

Hydroprocessing:
Significant amounts of pyrolysis oil, stabilized pyrolysis oil (SPO) and stabilized and deoxygenated pyrolysis oil (SDPO) have been produced and distributed to the relevant partners. Continuous hydroprocessing tests have been carried out with the goal to achieve high oxygen removal for shipping fuel quality.
To further increase the stability of the catalyst used for stabilization of pyrolysis oil, cleaning methods to decontaminate the pyrolysis oil have been carried out, and the effect on the stabilization catalyst assessed.

Fuel validation, standardization and certification:
For aviation fuel pre-screening, several samples from the lab-scale and pilot-scale units have been analysed and results are being processed and iteration to process conditions made.
Pre-screening of marine fuel samples has been evaluated, and one of these samples was used for including blending and thermal/oxidative stability studies. The production of a larger batch of marine fuel quality is currently ongoing, to be used in engine tests during RP3.

Process design, green tracking and digitalization:
A model description of FCC with an extension to co-FCC has been developed. A selection of relevant compound selection has been made and analytical results are being used to fine-tune the model.

Roadmap to sustainable business:
A citizen workshop has been organised face-to-face in Finland to build on the Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI). The work related to Life Cycle Assessment has been initiated during RP2 and will be concluded in RP3.

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

A groundbreaking co-FCC multi-injector CFD model has been developed—the first of its kind. Further research, model validation, and IPR support are planned.