- Email: [email protected]
Improved platforming catalyst from UOP
F O C U S at each facility. The first bio-refinery is planned to be in North Carolina and the location of the second plant is to be announced soon in the northwestern sector of the US. Each GSPI-designed bio-refinery will have a start-up production of between 10 or 20 M gallon/y with quick expansion capabilities. The facility infrastructure will be capable of expanding to 60 M gallon/y (and further expansion capabilities could reach 100 M gallon/y), ranking them among the largest fuel production facilities in the world. The GSPI bio-refinery facilities, which incorporate joint production operations of both biodiesel and biomass ethanol, will be the first of their kind in North America and possibly the world. GSPI Combined bio-refinery key advantages are included in the article. The bio-refinery would simply switch over and use part of its own supply of ethanol, which works just as well as methanol. This would insure that the bio-refinery is always in operation backed by the output of the US farmer. Press release from: Green Star Products Inc, 858 Third Avenue, 455 Chula Vista, CA 91911-1305, USA. Tel: +1619 409 8977. Fax: +1 619 409 9598. E-mail: [email protected]. Website: http://www.baat.com (15 May 2006)
Neste Oil cleans up in biofuels Neste Oil is constructing a €100 M plant at its refinery in Porvoo, Finland designed to generate improved biodiesel product from renewable resources. The company said the plant will produce a high quality product that will be superior to other biodiesels based on rapeseed methyl ester and fatty-acid methyl ester. The new blend, to be called NExBTL (next bio-to-liquid), is a clear paraffin free of aromatic and sulfur components. It features good oxidation stability and a very high cetane number, ensuring rapid fuel ignition in the engine. The production process involves direct hydrogenation of the plant oil into alkane, water, and carbon oxides using a nickel-molybdenum catalyst. Nestle Oil said the new biodiesel plant will potentially allow Finland to satisfy the traffic biofuels objectives established by the European Union for 2010. The EU seeks to increase the share of biofuels to 5.75% by 2010. The plant, which is slated to come onstream in 2Q 2007, will have
6
O N
C ATA LY S T S
a capacity of 170,000 tonne/y and will use up 200,000 tonne/y of feedstock. It will be capable of processing any fatty acid hydrocarbon without compromising product quality. ICIS Chemical Business, 15 May 2006 (Website: http://icischemicalbusiness.com)
Automated pilot converts JP8 to hydrogen Unitel Technologies Inc, which is based in Mount Prospect, IL, has built a fully automated plant to convert kerosene jet fuel to fuel cell hydrogen. The plant produces 20 s l/min of hydrogen which is sufficient to generate 975 w of fuel cell power. The plant has air and nitrogen and JP8 and water delivery modules. All of these feeds are monitored and controlled by computers. Further development will take place at the US Army Communications Electronics Command at Fort Belvoir, VA, with the aim of fuelling a solid oxide fuel-cell stack to generate quiet power. Oil and Gas Journal, 1 May 2006, 104 (17), 10
NEW TECHNOLOGY Improved platforming catalyst from UOP UOP has formulated R-98, a new catalyst used in the company’s FixedBed Platforming technology to increase gasoline production. The technology is used in refineries to transform light hydrocarbons into high-octane gasoline. The catalyst, which increases production through a proprietary promoter, is in its second cycle at a plant of Hunt Refining Co. A Hunt official noted that the R-98 catalyst allowed around 2% increase in volume of reformate yield from hydrotreated coker naphtha. Chemical Engineering Progress, May 2006, 102 (5), 12 & Chemical Engineering (New York), May 2006, 113 (5), 15
Pd catalyst: Sigma-Aldrich USA based Sigma-Aldrich has released a palladium catalyst known as PEPPSIIPr (pyridine-enhanced precatalyst preparation stabilization and initiation),
which exhibits stability in air and water. The new catalyst was developed for use on performing intermolecular cross-coupling reactions, aminations, and intermolecular Heck transformations. It incorporates a 3-chloropyridyl group that functions as a “throw-away” ligand. PEPPSI-IPr also contains a bulky NHC ligand that furthers reductive elimination of the product. The catalyst is available in gram to bulk quantities. Chemical Engineering (New York), May 2006, 113 (5), 16,18
Pineapple rings true for bioethanol Biomass Resources Corp, based in the USA, has developed a new technique to produce ethanol from the extraction of liquid from pineapple fruit and pineapple plant waste. The new extraction technology provides a successful route in extracting ethanol from plant waste. The novel route allows the extraction of ethanol from plant waste without requiring the producer to choose between food or fuel uses as the end product, unlike in conventional methods of ethanol extraction from corn and sugar cane. The new method also produces bromelain enzymes, xylitol, lignin, and protein-laden waste, which can be used in the production of dietary supplements. ICIS Chemical Business, 15 May 2006 (Website: http://icischemicalbusiness.com)
Ethanol from peels: new process from ARS and Renewable Spirits ARS and its R&D collaborator Renewable Spirits LLC have developed a new, cost-effective method that enzymatically converts citrus peels into sugars, which can be processed into ethanol. The process, which can also capture limonene from the peels, is estimated to raise the value of the waste by 100%. A 10,000 gal/batch pilot production unit for fuel-grade ethanol is slated to start up later in 2006. An aggregate 1.2 M tonne/y of the dried peel residue is produced by the citrus industry in Florida alone. According to an ARS chemist, this volume is ample to manufacture up to 80 M gal/y of ethanol. Chemical Engineering (New York), May 2006, 113 (5), 15-16
JULY 2006
Neste Oil cleans up in biofuels Neste Oil is constructing a €100 M plant at its refinery in Porvoo, Finland designed to generate improved biodiesel product from renewable resources. The company said the plant will produce a high quality product that will be superior to other biodiesels based on rapeseed methyl ester and fatty-acid methyl ester. The new blend, to be called NExBTL (next bio-to-liquid), is a clear paraffin free of aromatic and sulfur components. It features good oxidation stability and a very high cetane number, ensuring rapid fuel ignition in the engine. The production process involves direct hydrogenation of the plant oil into alkane, water, and carbon oxides using a nickel-molybdenum catalyst. Nestle Oil said the new biodiesel plant will potentially allow Finland to satisfy the traffic biofuels objectives established by the European Union for 2010. The EU seeks to increase the share of biofuels to 5.75% by 2010. The plant, which is slated to come onstream in 2Q 2007, will have
6
O N
C ATA LY S T S
a capacity of 170,000 tonne/y and will use up 200,000 tonne/y of feedstock. It will be capable of processing any fatty acid hydrocarbon without compromising product quality. ICIS Chemical Business, 15 May 2006 (Website: http://icischemicalbusiness.com)
Automated pilot converts JP8 to hydrogen Unitel Technologies Inc, which is based in Mount Prospect, IL, has built a fully automated plant to convert kerosene jet fuel to fuel cell hydrogen. The plant produces 20 s l/min of hydrogen which is sufficient to generate 975 w of fuel cell power. The plant has air and nitrogen and JP8 and water delivery modules. All of these feeds are monitored and controlled by computers. Further development will take place at the US Army Communications Electronics Command at Fort Belvoir, VA, with the aim of fuelling a solid oxide fuel-cell stack to generate quiet power. Oil and Gas Journal, 1 May 2006, 104 (17), 10
NEW TECHNOLOGY Improved platforming catalyst from UOP UOP has formulated R-98, a new catalyst used in the company’s FixedBed Platforming technology to increase gasoline production. The technology is used in refineries to transform light hydrocarbons into high-octane gasoline. The catalyst, which increases production through a proprietary promoter, is in its second cycle at a plant of Hunt Refining Co. A Hunt official noted that the R-98 catalyst allowed around 2% increase in volume of reformate yield from hydrotreated coker naphtha. Chemical Engineering Progress, May 2006, 102 (5), 12 & Chemical Engineering (New York), May 2006, 113 (5), 15
Pd catalyst: Sigma-Aldrich USA based Sigma-Aldrich has released a palladium catalyst known as PEPPSIIPr (pyridine-enhanced precatalyst preparation stabilization and initiation),
which exhibits stability in air and water. The new catalyst was developed for use on performing intermolecular cross-coupling reactions, aminations, and intermolecular Heck transformations. It incorporates a 3-chloropyridyl group that functions as a “throw-away” ligand. PEPPSI-IPr also contains a bulky NHC ligand that furthers reductive elimination of the product. The catalyst is available in gram to bulk quantities. Chemical Engineering (New York), May 2006, 113 (5), 16,18
Pineapple rings true for bioethanol Biomass Resources Corp, based in the USA, has developed a new technique to produce ethanol from the extraction of liquid from pineapple fruit and pineapple plant waste. The new extraction technology provides a successful route in extracting ethanol from plant waste. The novel route allows the extraction of ethanol from plant waste without requiring the producer to choose between food or fuel uses as the end product, unlike in conventional methods of ethanol extraction from corn and sugar cane. The new method also produces bromelain enzymes, xylitol, lignin, and protein-laden waste, which can be used in the production of dietary supplements. ICIS Chemical Business, 15 May 2006 (Website: http://icischemicalbusiness.com)
Ethanol from peels: new process from ARS and Renewable Spirits ARS and its R&D collaborator Renewable Spirits LLC have developed a new, cost-effective method that enzymatically converts citrus peels into sugars, which can be processed into ethanol. The process, which can also capture limonene from the peels, is estimated to raise the value of the waste by 100%. A 10,000 gal/batch pilot production unit for fuel-grade ethanol is slated to start up later in 2006. An aggregate 1.2 M tonne/y of the dried peel residue is produced by the citrus industry in Florida alone. According to an ARS chemist, this volume is ample to manufacture up to 80 M gal/y of ethanol. Chemical Engineering (New York), May 2006, 113 (5), 15-16
JULY 2006