Renewable gasoline

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Section: ADVANCED BIOFUELS

Renewable gasoline (also known as biogasoline and green gasoline) is a biomass-derived transportation fuel suitable for use in spark-ignition engines.
Key characteristics:
- It is chemically equivalent to petroleum-derived gasoline.
- It is suitable for use in conventional cars and without requiring engine modifications.
- It can use the existing petroleum fuel pipeline structures and retail distribution systems. No special handling, storage and use requirements.
- It can significantly reduce carbon dioxide emissions. The intensity of the reduction depends on the feedstock and the production technology.
- It must meet international fuel specifications (ASTM D4814 in the United States and EN 228 in Europe).

Figure 1. Renewable gasoline (also known as biogasoline and green gasoline) is a biomass-derived transportation fuel suitable for use in spark-ignition engines (taken from the twitter profile of @BioGasoline)

Projects

1. Gasification followed by Fischer-Tropsch synthesis

Red Rock Biofuels LLC (RRB)
Type of project: Commercial biorefinery.
Status: Under construction. Starting of the works: 2018. Operations planned to start in 2020.
Location: Lakeview (Oregon, USA).
Feedstock: 136,000 tons of waste woody biomass gathered from thinning projects.
Products: 15.1 million gallons of renewable fuels (jet fuel, diesel and gasoline).
Related posts:
- “Red Rock Biofuels commences construction of its biorefinery in Oregon”, 9/5/2018.
- “Emerging Fuels Technology to supply increased FT capacity for Red Rock Biofuels biorefinery”, 7/3/2019.

Figure 2. Units of the RRB concept (taken from “Bio-gasoline refinery for ac circular economy”, Corporate Presentation of Rainforest Energy Corp.)

Wood2Gasoline - TIGAS Integrated Biorefinery
In 2014, Haldor Topsoe, Inc. integrated the Andritz Carbona Gasification and GTI/Uhde Morphysorb proprietary processes with its TIGAS technology to produce renewable gasoline from woody biomass.
The project took place within Gas Technology Institute’s Gasification Testing Complex in Des Plaines (Illinois).
More than 10,000 gallons of 92-octane biogasoline were produced for fleet testing. Results were excellent, there was no difference in emissions, mileage or engine wear. In 2015, the green-gasoline blend was registered by EPA as an approved motor fuel.
TIGAS (Topsoe Improved Gasoline Synthesis).

2. Gasification followed by modified methanol-to-gasoline (MTG)

Rainforest Energy Corp.
Type of project: Commercial biorefinery.
Status: Under planning.
Proposed locations: Maine (USA) / Alberta (Canada).
Feedstocks: Logging slash piles, end-of-life railroad ties, agricultural residue, natural gas.
Products: 94-octane gasoline, surplus power, clean water, heat, CO2.

Figure 3. Units of the Rainforest concept (taken from “Bio-gasoline refinery for ac circular economy”, Corporate Presentation of Rainforest Energy Corp.)

3. Alcohol-to-gasoline

Ekobenz
Type of project: Commercial biorefinery.
Status: Running.
Location: Bogumiłów, near Łódź (Poland).
Feedstock: Bioethanol.
Products: 22,500 metric tons of gaseous biohydrocarbons, liquid biohydrocarbons (<210ºC) and aromatic biohydrocarbons (>210ºC).
Related post: Bogumiłów Ethanol-To-Gasoline plant.

Figure 4. Simplified flow diagram of the Ekobenz process (courtesy of Ekobenz)

4. Isooctane blends

The isooctane structure has a strand of eight carbons. It is a hydrocarbon used to make premium-grade gasolines and it shows excellent blend properties: low Reid Vapor Pressure (RVP), high octane rating and energy density.

Gevo

Gevo has made the winning bid in a competitive process conducted by the City of Seattle to provide renewable gasoline to its fleet vehicles. Gevo has been awarded a four year contract, with three two-year extensions, to supply at minimum 200,000 gallons/year of renewable isobutanol and 600,000 gallons/year renewable isooctane  to the City of Seattle to displace fossil-based gasoline.
Related post: “HCS Group and Gevo sign agreement for the purchase and sale of renewable isooctane”, 1/3/2019.

The isooctane is derived from corn-based isobutanol. The company produces RG50, a 50% blend of isooctane. They are also working on additional products with the objective of replacing the whole gallon with a 100% renewable gasoline in the coming years.

Global Bioenergies

The German carmaker Audi is working with Global Bioenergies and the Fraunhofer Center for Chemical-Biotechnological Processes (Fraunhofer CBP) to develop an alternative gasoline as a contribution to reduce the automotive carbon footprint. The “e-benzin” (e-gasoline), as they call it themselves, is a liquid isooctane that is currently produced from biomass in a two-step process. In the first step, Global Bioenergies produces gaseous isobutene (C4H8). In the second step, Fraunhofer CBP uses hydrogen to transform the isobutene into isooctane (C8H18). The final product is a high-purity synthetic fuel free of sulfur and benzene, therefore, it is especially low in pollutants when it burns.

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