Renewable diesel production using a low-pressure flow reactor

可再生燃料是传统石油基燃料的一种有前途的替代品;前者不依赖于新的化石燃料开采，但仍然可以用于现有的能源基础设施以及汽车，重型卡车和飞机。从废弃植物油或动物脂肪中生产可再生燃料的额外好处是将这些低价值产品转化为经济资产。UBC的Berlinguette集团和Suncor Energy Inc正在通过NSERC联盟项目合作，展示在可扩展的钯（Pd）膜反应器中从可再生原料生产可再生燃料（主要是柴油）。这种方法被设计成规避与现有加工方法相关的关键挑战，这些挑战包括：i）驱动柴油生产的大量能量需求; ii）建造可维持高温和高压条件的反应器的高资本成本;以及iii）由处理加热和加压的氢气以及易燃原料和产物引起的安全考虑。该项目建立在Berlinguette集团开发Pd膜反应器技术的基础上，该技术被称为“Thor”，使传统的高温高压氢化反应能够在环境条件下使用来自水的氢气进行。为了利用Thor将可再生原料转化为可再生燃料，需要在两个领域进行研发：i）扩展Thor能够降解的分子类型，以包括在废弃生物质/生物原油中发现的分子; ii）设计、工程和演示可扩展的反应器架构。这个“SunThor”项目旨在填补这些关键领域的知识空白。如果成功，该项目将确定一条商业化道路，最终目标是在适度条件下使用可再生能源发电，以可再生原料工业规模生产可再生燃料。高效、经济和安全生产可再生燃料的创新方法不仅有利于加拿大，也有利于全球社会，有助于减轻社会日益增长的能源需求对环境的负面影响。

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.