Upgrading of heavy and high heteroatoms containing Hydrofaction™ Oil, to fuel blendstocks via Hydroprocessing and in-situ hydrogen production

The Project’s objective is to continue with development and optimization of the promising HTL biocrude upgrading approach that has been executed during the previous MITACS Converge/Accelerated project. The activities are going to be focus on in-situ hydrogen production to limit external cost of hydrogen and process optimization for the obtention of Jet and Marine fuel blend-stocks for transportation fuels. The main challenge in upgrading Hydrofaction™ Oil is not only oxygen removal and minimization of residue fraction (>550°C) but also elimination of phenols and maximization of in-situ hydrogen generation. The pathway of choice is the combination of hydrotreating with catalytic steam cracking/steam reforming steps. The upgraded oil should achieve low heteroatoms content, low total acid number and a maximum of 7% of residue fraction. Through the proposed Project, Dr. Pereira’s and Steeper Energy’s teams will expand expertise on upgrading biomass-derived hydrocarbons and potentially scale-up this competitive-driven process cost.

Faculty Supervisor:

Pedro Pereira-Almao

Student:

Nicolas Santana;Diego Moreno;Jesus Daniel Fuenmayor Contin

Partner:

Discipline:

Engineering - chemical / biological

Sector:

Professional, scientific and technical services

University:

University of Calgary

Program: