Novel surfactant systems for creating high performance bio-oil and vacuum gas oil emulsions as the next generation refinery feedstocks

生物油作为一种可再生能源，在逐步替代化石燃料减少温室气体排放方面发挥着重要作用。在现有的炼油设施中，将BO与石油中间体（如真空瓦斯油（VGO））共同加工，为将低质量BO转化为增值生物燃料提供了一条有希望的途径。然而，协同处理技术仍处于发展阶段，面临着BO与VGO的不混相、BO的低热稳定性和高腐蚀性三大挑战。为了向大规模商业化迈进，关键是将BO和VGO作为单相流体注入，并最大限度地发挥它们的相互作用，特别是在升级的进料阶段。自2021年5月以来，Kemetco研究公司一直与刘静博士合作，通过NSERC联盟项目开发热解BO和化石燃料的协同处理技术途径。这个新的联盟任务项目扩大了正在进行的NSERC联盟项目的范围，通过网络方法开发高性能表面活性剂系统，用于制造BO/VGO乳液，作为下一代炼油厂原料。该项目涉及一个由阿尔伯塔大学工程学院的研究人员组成的多学科团队，以及来自工业合作伙伴Kemetco和公共部门CanmetMATERIALS的合作者。该合作项目的目标和预期成果是：(1)用于混合BO/VGO乳剂的创新表面活性剂系统；(2)开发的BO/VGO乳剂作为共炼原料具有良好的热稳定性、无毒性和低腐蚀风险；(3)申请1-2项专利授权给行业合作伙伴；(4)培养9-15名hqp，发表10-15篇期刊/会议论文。行业合作伙伴将通过开发用于共精炼市场的高价值表面活性剂系统直接受益于该项目。新型表面活性剂系统在炼油厂的商业化将减少加拿大对化石燃料的依赖，减少温室气体排放，并为新兴的循环/生物经济做出贡献。

Bio-oil (BO), as a renewable energy resource, plays a significant role in reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by gradually substituting fossil fuels. Co-processing BO with petroleum intermediates such as vacuum gas oil (VGO) in existing refining infrastructures provides a promising pathway to transform low-quality BO into value-added biofuels. Nevertheless, the co-processing technology is still under development and faces three major challenges, including the immiscibility between BO and VGO, and the low thermal stability and high corrosivity of BO. To move forward to large-scale commercialization, it is critical to inject BO and VGO as a single-phase fluid and maximize their interactions, especially during the feeding stage of upgrading. Kemetco Research Inc. has been collaborating with Dr. Jing Liu on developing technology pathways for co-processing pyrolysis BO and fossil fuels through an NSERC Alliance project since May 2021. This new Alliance Missions project expands the scope of the ongoing NSERC Alliance Project to develop high-performance surfactant systems for creating BO/VGO emulsions as the next-generation refinery feedstocks through a network approach, involving a multidisciplinary team comprising researchers in the faculty of engineering at the University of Alberta, and collaborators from the industrial partner, Kemetco and the public sector, CanmetMATERIALS. The goals and expected outcomes of this partnership project are: (1) innovative surfactant systems for mixing BO/VGO emulsions; (2) demonstrated good thermostability, non-toxicity, and low corrosion risk of the developed BO/VGO emulsions as the co-refining feedstocks; (3) filing of 1-2 patents to be licensed to the industry partner; (4) training a diverse group of 9-15 HQPs and publishing 10-15 journal/conference papers. The industry partner will directly benefit from this project through the development of high-value surfactant systems for the co-refining market. Future commercialization of the novel surfactant system in refineries will reduce Canada's dependence on fossil fuels, cut GHG emissions, and contribute to the emerging circular/bioeconomy.