VTT Whitepaper 4 Feedstocks and Technologies To Decarbonise The Oil and Gas Industry
VTT Whitepaper 4 Feedstocks and Technologies To Decarbonise The Oil and Gas Industry
technologies to
decarbonise the oil
and gas industry
Table of content
Introduction
• Oil industry needs alternative feedstocks
• Strategic alternatives for oil companies
It has become clear that oil companies must profitability of refining falls sharply. Refining
cut their CO2 emissions. In addition to the fossil oil might not be very profitable in the
environmental impact of CO2 emissions, coming decades. Thus, the decarbonisation
political pressure for cutting emissions of the refinery operations is a hot topic for the
intensifies, and the price of CO2 emissions oil industry. At the same time, companies are
is increasing much faster than expected. looking for alternative non-fossil feedstocks.
Oil refineries emit millions of tonnes of CO2.
As the cost of emissions rises, the
Relying on tradition can be costly
Oil companies have reacted to the pressure with different
strategies. Some rely on old methods, while others look for
new approaches.
Oil refinery operations must Some companies are already quite advanced
be decarbonised in clean fuels. For example, the Finnish
Oil refineries are significant emitters of CO2. Neste has been able to recreate its own
The most significant emission sources are business with sustainable fuels. The company
typically the generation of process heat, produces three million tonnes of renewable
hydrogen production, and fluid catalytic fuels annually. The revenues come practically
cracking (FCC). from these renewables, not from the tradi-
tional oil refineries.
The price of CO2 emissions will rise as a part
of climate change mitigation actions. There- Other companies are following. The oil and
fore, oil refiners must cut their emissions gas industry is increasingly investing in green
drastically in the near future. energy.
Only a part of transportation can be elec- Solid biomass wastes and side-streams
trified in the near future. Even with massive are also an option, but they are more
electrified transportation, we will need alter- challenging to treat than oils and fats due to
native feedstocks. Light road transportation the complexity of the feedstock. However,
can be electrified, but the energy demand there has been significant development in
of heavy road transportation is still left. In the solid biomass conversion technologies
maritime and aviation, the life span of hydro- like gasification and liquefaction technologies
carbon-based fuels is even longer. With the during the past few years. As a result, many
help of sustainable fuels, oil companies can technologies are ready for commercialisation,
buy time to develop new energy technologies. and significant volumes of advanced biofuels
are expected to be seen in the coming years.
Biomass has longest history
If a company is looking for alternate feed- All alternatives are needed
stocks, several attractive alternatives are So far, alternative feedstocks for fuels have
available. been mostly biomass-based. However, today,
so-called e-fuels have become the hottest
So far, biofuels have been produced commer- topic in discussion.
cially mainly from fatty acids, either vegetable
or animal-based. Because they are already in Several new technologies and alternative
a liquid form, it is relatively simple to trans- feedstocks are emerging, but all experts
form them into sustainable transportation agree that none of these solutions will be
fuels. big enough to cover the whole feedstock
demand. Based on EU commission
scenarios, both biofuels and e-fuels
are essential.
Strategic
alternatives
for oil
companies
Oil companies have to make a strategic choice:
how much to invest in the research and production
of non-fossil fuels? Here are the options.
8
Trend 2: Rapid testing and diagnostics
Pros: Pros:
• The technologies needed • The easiest way to
are proven bio-fuel market
• The distribution network • Bio-fuels production is
is up and running more profitable than
• The market of liquid fuels traditional oil-refining
is still prominent
Cons: Cons:
• The price of CO2 emissions is • The sustainability of certain
rising steadily and faster than bio feedstocks like palm oil
expected is questionable
• The cost of financing goes up • The price of easily accessible
• The decarbonisation of tradi- raw materials may rise
tional processes is costly
• Regulations regarding the
use of oil are coming
9
Trend 2: Rapid testing and diagnostics
Go to waste and other solid materials Develop e-fuels Fuels from plastics
There is a plentiful of solid biomasses which The technique utilises the most abundant raw Chemically recycled plastics can be
can be converted to liquid fuels. The feed- material reservoir: CO2, either from industrial converted into transportation fuels or new
stocks are pretty cheap, but the challenge is processes or the Earth's atmosphere. The plastics material with pyrolysis or gasification.
the processing of the very diverse feedstock. processes of manufacturing hydrocarbons The technology exists, but no big-scale
The technologies needed in the conversion to from CO2 and hydrogen are at pre-commer- plants are yet operational.
liquid fuels are not yet ready for commercial cial level. The problem is the vast amount
use. of clean electric energy the process needs.
However, the supply of renewable energy is
rising, and its price is falling fast.
Reactors used for pyrolysis are most Fast pyrolysis is one of VTT’s focus areas in
commonly classified depending how the chemical recycling, something the research
solids move through the reactor during organization has been developing since the
pyrolysis. Movement can be caused by a early 1980s. The experimental work has
moving bed, mechanical forces, or fluid flow. included a large variety of feedstocks and
Reactors can also be classified depending yielded a range of products.
on the way the heat is supplied.
The evolution was capped off by the launch of
In practice, many different combinations the world’s first integrated fast pyrolysis plant
of solid movement and heat transfer are in 2015 in Joensuu, Finland. Since then, the
possible. Several different pyrolysis reactor Joensuu plant has had several successors,
designs are also available, for example, and today, there are already several pilot plants
fluidized bed and rotating cone. that can produce 10 tons of fuel per day.
12
Trend 3: Personal Health Behaviour Management
In 2018, approximately 30 million tons of Pyrolysis is thermal cracking streams (e.g. plastics) could provide a quite
plastic packaging waste was collected in Pyrolysis, or thermal cracking, is the thermal feasible means for recycling.
Europe, of which 12 million tons were used degradation of long-chain polymer molecules
for energy recovery and 7.2 million tons were into less complex smaller molecules. The This holds especially in the emerging phase
landfilled. process takes place in the absence of oxygen where the volumes of the new materials on
at increased pressure and temperature. the market are low, and thus the separate
Collection can be drastically improved, and collection of waste is not yet a cost-efficient
recycled plastics could be used as a valuable Pyrolysis allows plastics to be recycled even option. On the other hand, this bodes well for
feedstock to make various products. when the plastic waste consists of different pyrolysis since it is a very flexible method that
types of plastic or composites or contains allows the use of various feedstocks.
However, the number one option is to utilise other organic or inorganic materials or
mechanical recycling and use plastic waste impurities. The end products of pyrolysis can The main methods of pyrolysis are slow
to make plastic products. Still, a high share be monomers, heating oils, refinery feeds, pyrolysis, fast pyrolysis, and ultra-fast
of plastics cannot be mechanically recycled. transportation fuels, and chemicals. pyrolysis. The most significant difference
Chemical recycling could significantly between methods is the residence time of the
increase the recycling rates of plastics, as Many new material innovations are either solid phase in the reactor where the process
it can utilise mixtures of waste plastics, composites consisting of several types of takes place: is hours, minutes, or seconds.
unlike mechanical recycling. With chemical polymeric materials or completely novel
processes, the manufacturing of refinery polymer resins. For them, integrated pyrolysis
feeds for fuels and oils becomes viable, and with feedstocks from several polymeric waste
the use of plastic as an alternative feedstock
represents a new business opportunity to the
oil industry.
13
Trend 3: Personal Health Behaviour Management
The market for synthetic fuels that has emerged in the wake
of an acute need to reduce emissions is expected to grow to
millions of tons by 2030 in Europe alone. According to European
Environmental Agency, transport accounted for 25 % of EU
greenhouse gas emissions in 2018.
Advanced climate-neutral fuels like high- In the process, bio-oil yield is maximised.
octane fuels, advanced biofuels, e-fuels, Bio-oil has still relatively high oxygen content,
ethanol,100% bio-ethers, and biodiesels, can and also inorganic impurities may be present,
be blended seamlessly into the liquid fuel mix. and it needs upgrading. Upgrading can be
They are also compatible with existing and either co-processing at oil refinery or sepa-
future engine technologies. rate upgrading by hydrotreatment.
Climate-neutral liquid fuels can be produced The main research topic is how to meet
from various raw materials. The most bio-oil quality requirements at co-feeding to
abundant of them are renewable biomasses oil refinery or how to optimise pyrolysis and
containing lignocellulose. hydrotreatment processes.
Also low-cost materials like residues from In the second phase, cellulose and hemicellu- carbon into wanted platform chemicals and
agriculture and forestry, sludges, manures lose are degraded into sugars and moved to end products.
and waste wood can be transformed into a fermentation where enzymes from microbes
high-value products. However, to optimise the transform them into ethanol used as a transi- Large-scale production of lignocellu-
processes further, industrial-scale production tion product in the process. lose-based fuels with enzymes requires
is needed. biorefineries where all side-streams can be
The recent focus of research has been on utilised, and many end products are viable. In
Biotechnical production requires the pre-treatment and the use of enzymes. addition to fuels, biorefineries can produce,
pre-treatment Pre-treating can turn biomass into a form that for example, biochemicals, proteins, and
Biotechnical treatment of lignocellulose can be the basis for platform chemicals. One lactic acid. Lactic acid can be polymerised
is based on the use of microbial cells and of the most promising biorefinery concepts into bio-based plastics.
enzymes. is based on the alkaline oxidation method
developed by VTT. Recent research has concentrated on biore-
The basic process starts with a strong fineries that enable the complete fractionation
pre-treatment with temperature, alkaline, The applying of enzymes and modification of renewable raw materials into their main
acid, or organic salt. The pre-treatment opens of microbial cells allow the transferring of components.
up the structure of the lignocellulose to lignin,
cellulose, and hemicellulose fractions.
When the oil and gas industry looks for Management of municipal
alternative feedstocks, Municipal Solid Waste wastes involves separation at
(MSW) is an obvious choice. Landfilling of source into:
the waste is prohibited, and incineration is • Recyclable materials - used
phasing out. It is estimated that a potential of for the manufacture of
44 million tonnes of MSW could be available recycled products.
in the EU in 2030. (Source: ETIP Bioenergy). • Organic fraction - may be
converted to gas or fuels.
MSW is generally used to describe most • Solid recovered fuel (SRF) -
non-hazardous solid waste from a city, town, the fraction of MSW that
or village that requires systematic collection cannot be recycled - can be
and transport to a processing or disposal combusted or converted to
site. Sources of MSW include private homes, syngas and then be used
commercial establishments, and institutions, for energy purposes or be
as well as industrial facilities, excluding waste processed into advanced
from industrial processes. biofuels
Technically, MSW can be converted into liquid Gasification process is similar to all
and gaseous biofuels to be used as a trans- feedstocks
port fuel. MSW is also a cheap feedstock. MSW can be converted to fuels with many
techniques like gasification, pyrolysis, or
Challenges arise from the fragmented biochemical pathways like fermentation and
composition of the waste material. Municipal enzymatic hydrolysis treatment.
solid waste can consist of almost any
discarded materials. Some of them are So far, the mainstream technology has
suitable for conversion to fuels, while some been gasification. Gasification converts
are not. any carbon-containing matter like MSW or
biomass residues into clean syngas (CO,
23
Trend 5: Bio-based materials in healthcare
H2). Syngas can be utilised to make different systems and the consequent need to Now the idea is crystallised into a concept
products, for example via Fischer-Tropsch converting surplus electricity into a storable where the primary conversion of biomass
synthesis to produce feedstock for refineries. form, power-to-gas (P2G) and power-to-liq- and solid waste is done at small to medium
The process is similar for all feedstocks, uids (P2L) concepts have been suggested for size units located close to waste or biomass
and gasification is not limited to any specific managing the temporal mismatch between resources. Intermediate products like
feedstock like some other processes. solar energy supply and heat and power methanol, synthetic hydrocarbons, synthetic
Advanced transportation biofuels made demand. methane, or bio-hydrogen are transported to
by gasification have been at the focus of large-scale refineries or chemical factories
intensive development since early 2000. As a solution to these challenges, hybrid for final conversion. The end products could
However, industrial deployment has been systems have been suggested. Electrolysis be transportation fuels, olefins for renewable
rather slow. The reason is the relatively high technology is used to boost biomass gasifi- packaging, or basic chemicals.
capital expenditure required for an integrated cation and chemical synthesis plant.
gasification system and fuels synthesis facility The last phase of the development work has
to convert syngas to gasoline, diesel, jet fuel, FlexCHX utilizes local power plants been the EU-funded FlexCHX project that
synthetic natural gas or methanol/ethanol. VTT has studied concepts of compact gasi- started in March 2018.
fication and synthesis for flexible production
At the same time, in response to the growing of transport fuels, heat, and electricity for FlexCHX produces heat, power, and an inter-
share of solar and wind power in the energy several years. mediate energy carrier, Fischer-Tropsch (FT)
wax, which can be refined to transportation
fuels using existing oil refining equipment. In
the summer, renewable fuels are produced
from biomass and hydrogen. The hydrogen is
made from water via electrolysis that is driven
by low-cost excess electricity from the grid.
During the dark winter season, the plant is
operated with just biomass to maximise the
production of heat, electricity, and FT wax.
24
Trend 5: Bio-based materials in healthcare
Four test campaigns of FlexCHX were Catalytic reformer increases efficiency Key assets of VTT
realised at the pilot plant by the end of March The catalytic reformer plays a vital role in this as a partner:
2020. The pilot plant was operated continu- process by converting tars and light hydro- • Decades of experience
ously without any interruptions in these test carbon gases into synthesis gas (syngas) and from development of
runs. Now the key technologies of the project bringing the main gas constituents towards synthetic gas technology.
have been validated in an industrially relevant equilibrium. • Experience from close
environment (Technology Readiness Level 5). co-operation with companies
With catalytic reformer, the gasification to realise technologies in
Intermediate products for oil industry can be done in relatively low temperatures commercial scale.
The FlexCHX process can be realised at a because optimising the gas quality in the • Reliable track-record in
large scale using pressurised fluidised-bed gasifier is not necessary. new technology piloting and
gasification developed in Finland or at a demonstration.
smaller size range using the new staged fixed About 50 percent of the energy content of • Bioruukki piloting centre
bed (SBX) gasifier developed in an ongoing the MSW or biomass is converted into hydro- for new bio-based products
European Union (EU) Horizon 2020 project. carbon gases which can not be converted with modelling and piloting
directly into transportation fuels. In the capabilities under one roof.
In both gasification systems, the feedstock reformer, these gases are transformed into
is gasified at moderate temperatures to carbon monoxide and hydrogen, which can
generate a tar-containing raw gas, which be processed into fuels. This increases the
is filtered at high temperature, and led efficiency of the transformation from Fischer- Get in touch!
to the catalytic reformer, where tars and Tropsch fractions to fuels quite dramatically,
hydrocarbon gases are reformed, and the 40-50% in the energy level. Irene Coronado
yields of hydrogen and carbon monoxide are Customer Account Lead
increased. +358 406 682 831
[email protected]
After a final cleaning, the gas can be led
into chemical synthesis units producing
intermediate products, which can be refined
to transportation fuels or chemicals in large-
scale industrial units.
With help from
VTT you can:
Speed up your innovation process.
Invest in the proper development initiatives at the right time. Anticipate
technological development and business trends. Then, build a solid
foundation for your strategy.
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