Desulfurization Technology
Background
Due
to the increasingly stricter regulations for deep reduction of fuel sulfur
content, development of new deep desulfurization processes for liquid
transport fuels has become one of the major challenges to the refining
industry and to the production of hydrocarbon fuels for fuel cell
applications. The sulfur compounds in the current transport fuels
In
order to reduce the sulfur content in transport fuels for environmental
protection purpose, US Environmental Protection Agency has issued regulations
that has required the refineries to reduce the sulfur content of gasoline from
a current average of 300 ppm to 30
ppm by 2006, and the sulfur content of highway diesel fuel from a current
limit of 500
ppm to 15 ppm by 2006.
In
terms of technology availability, the sulfur content in gasoline can be
reduced to less than 30 ppm by current hydrotreating processes. The major
problem is that the current hydrotreating technology results in high hydrogen
consumption and significant
The
regulation for ultra-low sulfur fuel is motivated in part by the need for
using the
Consequently, development of new deep desulfurization processes for liquid transport fuels becomes one of the major challenges to the refining industry and to the fuels for fuel cell application.
Planet's Introduces Ultra Low Desulfurization Technology - SRU-15
The technology is
designed to treat the diesel fuel produced from a distillation unit to reduce
Sulfur compounds from levels of 60-100 ppm to less than 15 ppm to meet current
ULSD standards.
This technology
development is designed for the reduction of Sulfur compounds in Transmix and
other high Sulfur fuel streams. In keeping with the company’s mantra to
create new and innovative ways to utilize available resources, it was
determined there was need for a way to reduce Sulfur compounds in off spec
diesel fuel to meet the latest federally mandated regulations for ULSD (Ultra
Low Sulfur Diesel).
Transmix is a
readily available source of feedstock for use in the production of diesel fuel
and naptha. It is a by-product of several industries related to the
production, storage and transportation of hydrocarbon based products,
including the following:
-
Pipeline gas/diesel transmix
-
Cross-dumps of gas and diesel
-
Barge Strippings
-
Petroleum and chemical site/tank cleaning and remediation
-
Interface and purge of non-compatible products in tankers, pipelines, and tankage
-
Re-refining of red-dye product
Transmix is a costly
by-product of these processes and results in a cross mixture of products that
must be re-refined at the refinery, which is wasteful and displaces refinery
volume for incoming crude oil, or processed into diesel and naptha in smaller
distillation plants. Because Transmix is typically high in Sulfur compounds it
becoming increasingly difficult for the Transmix processors to produce diesel
fuel to meet ULSD standards of less than 15 ppm.
Recognizing this
problem and the opportunity it presented, Planet committed in April 2010 to
develop a solution utilizing a chemistry / technology based process. Further,
the company’s management challenged its team to fast-track the project from
conception and laboratory testing to an operating prototype in 90 days and
dedicated a budget of $450,000 to conceptualize, prove, design, build, and
test, the technology. The system incorporates a design that can be
pre-fabricated in modules for cost effective manufacture and transportation
and readily “plugs in” to the client’s distillation system.
As previously stated
in a press release dated June 23 2010, Planet has formally partnered with
Lerro Processing LP to market the technology and through this partnership, an
agreement has been established with an independent Transmix processor to
install and operate the first SRU-15 as a beta site for testing. The terms of
the agreement include a contract with the company to pay a per gallon
treatment price for fuel processed through the system from the date it begins
operation. Planet will own, maintain, and operate the system through the
limited partnership and plans are to market the concept to a large number of
potential customers facing the dilemma of meeting ULSD standards.
The
Process
to Develop Desulfurization Technology.
Since early in 2010, Planet Resource Recovery, Inc. has been working on research and development of chemistry and the associated process for a new sulfur reduction technology, known as a Sulfur Reduction Unit (SRU). The project is in keeping with the company’s mandate to develop new and unique chemistry solutions for profitable recovery and utilization of problematic by-products, waste materials, and environmental contaminants. For this project Planet is in collaboration with a company that has a distillation facility capable of producing 22,000 gals. of diesel fuel and gasoline per day from transmix.
For
the first phase of the project, Planet completed the feasibility study,
engineering design, fabrication, and
installation of a 22,000 gal. per day pilot process system, located
in New Mexico, by July of this year. The system was initialized as a test
platform for development and testing of a unique and proprietary catalyst for
sulfur reduction of transmix to meet the latest government standards for
diesel fuel of less than 15 ppm. Basic process design parameters were to
configure a system that could meet the production requirements of the pilot
facility yet be adaptable and modular for ease of construction and expandable
to meet the needs of other prospective facilities and utilize a new
form of catalyst that could be
regenerated for multiple uses. Further, the complete treatment process
requires the development of catalyst
that can target and sequester a variety of sulfur compounds, specifically,
complex, long chained thiophenes.
The
second phase of the project for Planet has been to develop and test a variety
of catalysts for sulfur reduction.
The catalysts formulas to be made and tested were based on months of
research prior to and during
completion of the pilot process. Primary concerns for the new catalyst were
safety, performance, reliability and predictability, cost, and the ability of
the new catalyst to be regenerated. To provide a baseline for catalyst
development, initial testing utilized commercially available catalysts that
were known for their sulfur reduction characteristics. Testing of commercially
available nickel based catalyst documented the effectiveness, performance,
longevity, installation, regeneration requirements, and expense
of these catalysts that provided a profile of positive and negative attributes
upon which to base the new catalyst development. The commercially available
catalysts were tested on a full scale basis at the
pilot facility to provide functional data for review and evaluation.
Analysis
of the test data with additional research and testing over the past
several months has led us to positive results in a new catalyst created from
the combination of several materials, primarily a metal dioxide compound, a
metal nitrate compound, and a zeolite framework. This new formulation and its
manufacturing process are unique and patentable. The manufacturing and
production of the catalyst has proved to be relatively straight forward with a
formulation / mixing process followed by multi-step dehydration and
calcination process.
Currently, lab and scale model testing of the new catalyst is in progress to evaluate overall performance and to assure sulfur reduction under a variety of circumstances and criteria. It is expected that lab testing will be completed within three to four weeks and enough catalyst for testing at the New Mexico pilot facility will be available by the end of the year. At this time, multiple tests of the new catalyst have proven successful at reducing a broad range of sulfur and thiophene species from levels above 80 ppm to less than 15 ppm. Continued testing is being done to determine the full capability of reduction by amount, time, and by species.
In conjunction with the design and development of the equipment and catalyst technology, Planet has been developing a state of the art, proprietary control to be incorporated into the system. This control will be an integrated, processor based system for complete monitoring and control of operation and performance and will be built and installed as the third and final phase of the project.