Renewable diesel production using a low-pressure flow reactor

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Renewable fuels are a promising alternative to conventional petroleum-based fuels; the former does not rely on new fossil fuel extraction, but can still be used in existing energy infrastructure as well as cars, heavy haul trucks, and airplanes. Producing renewable fuels from waste vegetable oils or animal fats has the added benefit of transforming these low-value products into an economic asset. The Berlinguette Group at UBC and Suncor Energy Inc are partnering through an NSERC Alliance project to demonstrate production of renewable fuels (primarily diesel) from renewable feedstocks in a scalable palladium (Pd) membrane reactor. This approach is designed to circumvent key challenges associated with incumbent processing methods, which include: i) large energy requirements to drive diesel production; ii) high capital costs to build reactors that can sustain high-temperature and -pressure conditions; and iii) safety considerations resulting from handling heated and pressurized hydrogen gas together with flammable feedstocks and products. This project builds upon the Berlinguette Group's work developing a Pd membrane reactor technology, called "Thor", to enable traditionally high-temperature and -pressure hydrogenation reactions to be carried out in ambient conditions using hydrogen derived from water. In order to leverage Thor to convert renewable feedstocks into renewable fuels, R&D in two areas is needed: i) expansion of the types of molecules Thor is able to hydrogenate to include those found in waste biomass/biocrudes; and ii) design, engineering, and demonstration of a scalable reactor architecture. This "SunThor" project is designed to fill knowledge gaps in these key areas. If successful, the project will define a path toward commercialization with the ultimate goal of industrial-scale production of renewable fuels from renewable feedstocks at modest conditions using electricity derived from renewable sources. Innovative methods for efficient, economical, and safe production of renewable fuels would benefit not only Canada, but the global community by contributing to the mitigation of the negative environmental impacts of society's increasing energy demands.