Hydrocarbon Processing - April 2021 - 49

Clean Fuels
hydrogen production in upcoming years as more renewable
diesel plants are built.
What is involved in a renewable diesel project? A renewable diesel project involves more than the renewable diesel process unit. In addition to the RDU, the overall project must consider infrastructure such as the logistics of feedstock supplies and
diesel product distribution, feed pretreatment, hydrogen supply
and utilities. FIG. 1 shows a facility in Artesia, New Mexico, where
a grassroots RDU is planned.
In the case of a refinery conversion, the existing petroleum refinery will likely have significant infrastructure available, such as
rail access, truck loading and unloading, as well as existing tankage and utilities. The existing facilities may require some modifications to accommodate some of the feedstocks. For example,
animal fats such as tallow will require tank heating, as tallow will
solidify at ambient temperatures. An existing refinery will have
existing utility systems available such as steam, cooling water,
electric power, flare, wastewater treatment and instrument air.
A project planned for a greenfield site must plan for the logistics of feedstocks and products, tankage and the utilities required
for the overall project.
Renewable diesel feedstocks will likely require pretreatment
before being charged to the RDU. The various pretreatment steps
will vary depending on the specific application and the planned
RDU feedstocks. As noted earlier, renewable diesel can be produced from a variety of feedstocks: vegetable oils, used cooking
oil, distillers corn oil, animal fats, etc. The specific feedstocks
planned for the RDU will determine the required pretreatments
steps, which may include polyethylene removal, degumming and
bleaching to remove metals, chlorides, phosphates and other contaminants that are deleterious to the hydroprocessing catalysts.
In addition to logistics, utilities and pretreatment, an RDU
project requires hydrogen. An RDU generally requires more hydrogen supply than a traditional refinery hydrotreater designed
to remove sulfur species from petroleum diesel. The hydrogen
required will vary depending on the specific feedstock and increase over the run length of the RDU catalyst. An existing refinery will most likely have a source of hydrogen. The hydrogen
may be from an industrial gas supplier of a refinery-owned hydrogen production unit. A greenfield RDU project will need to
include a source of hydrogen.
Getting started. These basic steps can help owner-operators
get started:
1. Begin with a study: Conducting a feasibility study
identifies the opportunity before beginning the project.
2. Lay out the plan: Whether a unit needs to be
repurposed to process a variety of renewable feedstocks
or the entire refinery needs to be overhauled, engineering
and technology will be of the utmost importance to
ensure the project is completed safely, efficiently and
cost-effectively. Partnering with the right EPC company
will bring relevant experience to these types of projects.
3. Build into reality: If a grassroot approach is chosen or
the plant needs to be revamped as an RDU, milestones
and associated costs must be managed to ensure
deadlines are met at competitive prices that keep the
bottom line intact.

LITERATURE CITED
California Air Resources Board, " Low Carbon Fuel Standard, " online: https://
ww2.arb.ca.gov/our-work/programs/low-carbon-fuel-standard
2
U.S. Department of Energy Alternative Fuels Data Center, " Renewable hydrocarbon biofuels, " online https://afdc.energy.gov/fuels/emerging_hydrocarbon.html
3
S&P Global Platts, " Evolve or die: U.S. refiners grasp renewables lifeline to stay
viable, " December 2020, online: https://www.spglobal.com/platts/en/marketinsights/latest-news/oil/110420-evolve-or-die-us-refiners-grasp-renewables-lifeline-to-stay-viable
1

WILLIAM E. " BILL " PRESTON is the President and COO of
KP Engineering, LP. He is a recognized process industry leader
with 33 yr of business leadership, project development, project
management and project operations experience. In addition to
his role at KPE, he is the Executive Director of the Global Syngas
Technologies Council, the hydrogen and syngas industry's
central trade association. Preston earned his BA degree in
chemistry from Pomona College in Claremont, California, and an MS degree
in chemical engineering from The University of Texas at Austin.
DOUG SCHNITTKER is the VP of engineering at KP Engineering
and has vast experience serving in technical and leadership
roles in the downstream sector spanning 43 yr. He began
his career at Placid Oil Co. in 1977 and transitioned to CB&I,
where he led global project management before joining
KP Engineering in 2017. Mr. Schnittker earned a BS degree
in chemical engineering from Texas A&M University.
YASMINE MCCOLL is the Director of business development
at KP Engineering. Ms. McColl has 19 yr of strategic sales
experience in various energy downstream industries. Since
2002, she has held numerous technical and commercial roles
for operation, catalyst, specialty chemical and technology
licensing providers. Ms. McColl holds a BS degree in chemical
engineering and an MBA from the University of Houston.

NEW VERSION

InstruCalc
CONTROL VALVES * FLOW ELEMENTS * RELIEF DEVICES * PROCESS DATA
InstruCalc 9.0 calculates the size of control valves, ﬂow
elements and relief devices and calculates ﬂuid properties,
pipe pressure loss and liquid waterhammer ﬂow. Easy to
use and accurate, it is the only sizing program you need,
enabling you to: size more than 50 different instruments;
calculate process data at ﬂow conditions for 54 ﬂuids,
in either mixtures or single components, and 66 gases;
and calculate the oriﬁce size, ﬂowrate or differential
range, which enables the user to select the ﬂowrate with
optimum accuracy.

Updates include Engineering Standard
Upgrades and Operational Improvements
in InstruCalc Version 9.0
Please contact J'Nette Davis-Nichols
for more information at
Jnette.Davis-Nichols@GulfEnergyInfo.com

Hydrocarbon Processing | APRIL 2021

https://ww2.arb.ca.gov/our-work/programs/low-carbon-fuel-standard https://ww2.arb.ca.gov/our-work/programs/low-carbon-fuel-standard https://afdc.energy.gov/fuels/emerging_hydrocarbon.html https://www.spglobal.com/platts/en/market-insights/latest-news/oil/110420-evolve-or-die-us-refiners-grasp-renewables-lifeline-to-stay-viable https://www.spglobal.com/platts/en/market-insights/latest-news/oil/110420-evolve-or-die-us-refiners-grasp-renewables-lifeline-to-stay-viable https://www.spglobal.com/platts/en/market-insights/latest-news/oil/110420-evolve-or-die-us-refiners-grasp-renewables-lifeline-to-stay-viable

Hydrocarbon Processing - April 2021

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Hydrocarbon Processing - April 2021