Piteå Tall-Oil Biorefinery

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Nombre / Name
Piteå Tall-Oil Biorefinery
Empresa / Company
SunPine (www.sunpine.se)
Localización / Location
Piteå (Sweden)
Categoría / Category
Comercial / Commercial
Estado / Status
Operación / Running
Plataformas / Platform
Aceites / Oil
Materia prima / Feedstock
Tall oil crudo / Crude tall-oil
Producto / Product
Tall diésel crudo, bio-oil y colofonia / Crude tall diesel, bio-oil and rosin
Puesta en marcha / Start-Up
Abril 2010 / April 2010

Figure 1. Piteå Tall-Oil Biorefinery (extracted from Reference 3)

La idea de extraer diésel del tall-oil crudo (CTO) proviene de Lars Stigsson, que estudió cómo hacerlo posible en 2005, y, el químico Valeri Naydenov, que preparó un modelo para el proceso. Lars Stigsson promocionó la idea y los propietarios (KIRAM AB, Preem AB, Sveaskog, Södra Skogsägarna) fundaron SunPine en 2006. La planta de producción a escala industrial (20 metros de alto, 4 niveles y 35 metros de ancho) fue puesta en marcha en 2010 y, ahora, tiene una capacidad aproximada de 100.000 m3 de tall diésel crudo al año. En mayo de 2015, se anunció que SunPine y la empresa química Lawter planeaban expandir la planta para producir colofonia a partir de otoño de 2015. De esta manera, SunPine fabrica tres productos diferentes en la biorrefinería: tall diésel crudo (materia prima para biocombustibles), bio-oil (fuel oil renovable que se usa en la industria papelera) y colofonia (materia prima para tintas y adhesivos). The idea of extracting diesel from Crude Tall-Oil (CTO) came from Lars Stigsson, who studied how to make this possible in 2005, and, the chemist Valeri Naydenov, who prepared a model for the process. Lars Stigsson promoted the idea and the owners (KIRAM AB, Preem AB, Sveaskog, Södra Skogsägarna) found SunPine in 2006. The full-scale production facility (20 meters high, 4 levels, and 35 meters wide) was started-up in 2010 and, now, it has a capacity of approximately 100,000 m3 of crude tall diesel per year. In May 2015, it was announced that SunPine and the chemicals company Lawter plan to expand the plant in order to produce rosin since autumn 2015. In this way, SunPine manufactures three different products in the biorefinery: crude tall diesel (raw material for biofuels), bio-oil (green fuel oil used in the paper industry) and rosin (raw material for printing inks and adhesives).

El CTO es un subproducto de la industria papelera, por tanto, no hay competición con la cadena alimentaria. Después de la digestión (proceso Kraft), el jabón cálcico se separa del licor negro y se acidifica con ácido sulfúrico para generar el CTO, cuyos principales componentes son ácidos grasos, ácidos resínicos y elementos neutros (por ejemplo, esteroles). CTO is a by-product from the pulp and paper industry, therefore, there is no competition with manufacturing of foodstuffs. After the digester (Kraft process), the calcium soap is separated from the black liquor and acidulated with sulphuric acid into CTO, whose main components are fatty acids, resin acids and neutral elements (for instance, sterols).

El proceso de SunPine comienza cuando el CTO se mezcla con biometanol y ácido sulfúrico (catalizador) para producir una reacción de esterificación. En una torre de destilación a vacío, la mezcla obtenida se fracciona en tall diésel crudo (producto principal) y bio-oil/tall-oil pich (subproducto). Otros constituyentes de mayor valor añadido (colofonia, esteroles, beta-sitosterol,…) se extraen del subproducto posteriormente. La producción de diésel renovable tiene lugar en dos fases. Después del proceso de extracción en la biorrefinería de Piteå, el tall diésel crudo se almacena en un gran tanque en el puerto de Haraholmen antes de ser embarcado hacia Preem en Gotemburgo. Allí, se lleva a cabo un refinado final mediante un tratamiento bajo condiciones de alta presión de hidrógeno (hydroprocesado) para obtener diésel renovable de alta calidad (HVO). The SunPine process starts when CTO is mixed with biomethanol and sulphuric acid (catalyst) to produce a reaction of esterification. In a vacuum distillation tower, the obtained mix is fractionated to crude tall diesel (main product) and bio-oil/tall oil pitch (by-product). Further valuable constituents (rosin, plant sterols, beta-sitosterol,…) are extracted from the by-product later. The production of green diesel takes place in two stages. After the extraction process in the Piteå biorefinery, the crude tall diesel is stored in a large tank at the harbour on Haraholmen before it is shipped to Preem in Gothenburg. There, it is further refined through treatment under high pressure hydrogen (hydroprocessing) to become high-quality renewable diesel fuel (HVO).

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REFERENCIAS / REFERENCES
1 www.sunpine.se/en/ (accessed on 19th January 2016).
2 “A sustainable future for SunPine”. Available on line:  www.svebio.se/sites/default/files/SunPine%20information%20-%20Eng.pdf (accessed on 19th January 2016).
3 “SunPine BiorefinerySecond generation biofuel”. Available online: http://www.ieatask33.org/app/webroot/files/file/minutes_and_presentations/Pitea_Oct2011/Site%20visits/SunPine%20presentation_eng.pdf (accessed on 19th January 2016).

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