Biorefinery platforms – Biobased naphtha

By -


Concept

- The term naphtha is used to describe petroleum distillate from the refining of crude oil or natural gas, which has the approximate boiling range of gasoline. It is one of the most important platforms of the oil & gas sector.
- Biobased naphtha comes from the refining of biobased feedstocks. For instance, through technologies as Fischer-Tropsch conversion or hydrotreating. It is the biobased counterpart of fossil naphtha.
- Naphtha is extremely volatile and highly flammable. It is also classified as carcinogenic.

Figure 1. Biorefinery platforms - Biobased naphtha

Applications

Biobased naphtha has the same applications as fossil naphtha:
- Base material for the production of high-grade gasoline by means of the catalytic reforming process (gasoline is refined naphtha).
- Feedstock for the petrochemical industry and its most important process, steam cracking. Pyrolysis is used to produce ethylene and co-products (propylene, butylene, butadiene). Ethylene and propylene are building blocks that are used, among other things, in the production of plastics such as polyethylene and polypropylene.
- In the chemical industry, naphtha is used as a solvent for cleaning.
- Diluting agent in bitumen extraction. Closer to home, naphtha is also found in medicinal products and as a shoe polish additive, for example.

References

Some examples of the use of biobased naphtha through a mass balance approach and under certification schemes.

Producer: Borealis | Certification: ISCC PLUS.
Product: Polypropylene | Feedstock: Biobased naphtha produced by Neste from oils and fats.

Producer: Covestro | Certification: ISCC Plus.
Product: Polycarbonate | Feedstock: Renewable phenol produced from biobased naphtha which in turn is produced by Neste from oils and fats.

Producer: Dow Chemicals | Certification: ISCC PLUS.
Product: Polyethylene | Feedstock: Biobased naphtha produced by UPM Biofuels from talloil.
Dow Chemicals press release: “Dow and UPM partner to produce plastics made with renewable feedstock”, 24/9/2019.

Producer: DSM | Certification: ISCC PLUS.
Product: Dyneema® | Feedstock: Renewable ethylene produced by SABIC from biobased naphtha which in turn is produced by UPM Biofuels from talloil.

Producer: INEOS | Certification: Roundtable on Sustainable Biomaterials.
Product: Polyolefins, PVC (BIOVYN) and styrenics (Styrolux and Styroflex).
INEOS website: “Enabling a circular economy for stirenics” (accessed on 04/11/2020).

Producer: LyondellBasell | Certification: REDcert2.
Product: Polypropylene and low-density polyethylene (Circulen range) | Feedstock: Biobased naphtha produced by Neste from oils and fats.

Producer: Vynova | Certification: ISCC PLUS.
Product: PVC | Feedstock: Renewable ethylene produced by SABIC from biobased naphtha which in turn is produced by UPM Biofuels from talloil. 
Vynova website: “Bio-attributed PVC” (accessed on 04/11/2020).

Popular Posts

Fotobiorreactores

By -
Image
El cultivo de microalgas no es algo novedoso, muchos de los métodos y conceptos que se usan hoy en día fueron desarrollados a finales del siglo XIX y principios de la pasada centuria. En décadas posteriores, se han ido refinando por la intervención de varias disciplinas que han trabajado de manera conjunta: biología, ingeniería de procesos, matemáticas y física. En los últimos 30 años, la industria biotecnológica de las microalgas ha crecido y se ha diversificado de manera significativa. Sin embargo, las aplicaciones comerciales existentes, todavía se hallan limitadas a comercios de bajo volumen y gran valor añadido como el de los suplementos alimenticios o el de los extractos (por ejemplo, el beta-caroteno). De acuerdo con un informe de IEA Bioenergy del 2010, la cantidad de biomasa algal producida comercialmente estaba en el entorno de las 9.000 toneladas. 1,2,3,4 Actualmente, el interés creciente que despiertan el empleo de las microalgas en la obtención de biocombustibles y e
Read more

Levulinic acid biorefineries

By -
Image
Publication date: 16/11/2015 Last update: 20/02/2016 Description 1,2 Levulinic acid (also known as 4-oxopentanoic acid or γ-ketovaleric acid) is an organic compound with chemical formula C 5 H 8 O 3 . It is a white crystalline solid soluble in water and polar organic solvents. It contains ketone and a carboxylic group whose presence results in interesting reactivity patterns. It is one of the more recognized Biobased Chemical Building Blocks , a starting material for a wide number of compounds (see Applications below). In fact, it was recognized by the US DoE as one of the top biobased platform chemicals of the future and it can successfully address many performance-related issues attributed to petroleum-based chemicals and materials. Process technologies 1,3,4,5 The controlled degradation of C6-sugars by acids is the most widely used approach to prepare levulinic acid from lignocellulosic biomass. Other methods have also been studied, for instance, the hydroly
Read more

Hydrotreating (HVO) – Advantages over FAME and properties

By -
Image
Versión en Español Section: ADVANCED BIOFUELS Series: HVO - Hydrotreating (HVO) – Concepts, feedstocksand specifications - Hydrotreating (HVO) – Advantages over FAME and properties - Hydrotreated Vegetable Oils (HVO) Biorefineries – The rise of renewable diesel - Posts: HVO Hydrotreating is an alternative process to esterification to produce diesel from biomass. Traditionally, diesel components produced from vegetable oils are made by an esterification process. In fact, HVO are commonly referred to as renewable diesel or green diesel in order to distinguish from Fatty Acid Methyl Esters (FAME), best known as biodiesel. Other acronyms are also used depending on the feedstock, such as Rape Seed Methyl Ester” (RME), “Soybean Methyl Ester” (SME), “Palm Oil Methyl Ester” (PME) or “Used Cooking Oils Methyl Ester (UCOME). In the HVO production process, hydrogen is used to remove the oxygen from the triglycerides and does not produce any glycerol as a side product. Additi
Read more

Hidrotratamiento (HVO) – Conceptos, materias primas y especificaciones

By -
Image
English version Sección: BIOCOMBUSTIBLES AVANZADOS Serie: HVO - Hidrotratamiento (HVO) – Conceptos, materias primas y especificaciones - Hidrotratamiento(HVO) – Ventajas sobre el biodiesel convencional y propiedades - Biorrefinerías de Aceites Vegetales Hidrotatados (HVO) – El auge del diésel renovable - Entradas: HVO                El acrónimo HVO significa en inglés “ Hydrotreated Vegetable Oils ” (“Aceites Vegetales Hidrotratados”) o ” Hydrogenated Vegetable Oils ” (“Aceites Vegetales Hidrogenados”). Clave del proceso: Tratamiento con hidrógeno. En el proceso de producción de HVO, el hidrógeno se usa para eliminar el oxígeno de los triglicéridos produciendo una mezcla de parafinas lineales, CO 2 y agua. Posteriormente, el producto de la primera etapa se isomeriza, siempre en presencia de hidrógeno, para ramificar las cadenas lineales con el propósito de mejorar las propiedades de flujo en frío de los productos finales. Por tanto, los HVO son
Read more

Biorrefinerías de ácido succínico

By -
Image
Fecha de publicación: 16/10/2015. Última actualización: 20/12/2016. Introducción Dentro de muy poco, el blog contará con una nueva sección centrada en resumir la información disponible sobre las plantas piloto y comerciales de los bloques modulares verdes (BCBB por sus siglas en inglés, “Biobased Chemical Building Blocks”) más prometedores. Esta sección contará con enlaces a entradas monográficas que se actualizarán de manera regular. El motivo fundamental de empezar la serie con el ácido biosuccínico es que varias empresas han conseguido alcanzar objetivos importantes relacionados con su comercialización a gran escala. Claramente, es una de las 12 principales BCBB identificadas por el DoE que está cumpliendo con las expectativas generadas previamente. Descripción 1,2,3 El ácido succínico (ácido butanodioico) es un ácido dicarboxílico cuya fórmula química es C4H6O4. Se trata de un cristal incoloro y soluble en agua que posee sabor ácido. El nombre deriva del voc
Read more