Total Refining and Chemicals

BIOFIT Case Study: Co-feeding of pyrolysis oil in a fossil refinery to produce green transport fuels

Together with project partners TFMC and BTG, the co-feeding of pyrolysis oil in the FCC (Fluid Catalytic Cracker) of a Total refinery has been investigated. This way, green, second-generation (advanced) biofuels can be produced. BIOFIT partners BEST and CERTH have worked respectively on the supply chain and the environmental assessment.

Pyrolysis oil is produced from lignocellulosic materials, such as forestry residues and wood waste. Pyrolysis oil has a high energy density, which means that it can be transported and stored easily at low-cost.

Figure 1: Pyrolysis oil production

Distributed production of pyrolysis oil can take place, followed by transport to a single location, such as a refinery. Advantages of this concept are that only limited new infrastructure needs to be build, namely the pyrolysis oil production plants. These are relatively small, can be constructed fast (in 1 year), and capital requirements are modest in comparison with the costs of a refinery. Retrofitting costs at the refinery are low.

Figure 2: Pyrolysis oil production and co-feeding value chain

The whole value chain is financially viable and the resulting CO2 emission reductions are substantial, and well above the RED II thresholds.