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Companies will evaluate Chinese feedstocks for the production of green diesel and green jet fuels, evaluate installation of units to produce renewable fuels and improve ethanol energy efficiency
UOP LLC, a Honeywell company, announced today that it signed a memorandum of understanding with China National Petroleum Corp. (CNPC) under which the two companies will collaborate on a range of biofuels technologies and projects in China.
Under the terms of the agreement, announced at the 20th meeting of the China-U.S. Joint Commission on Commerce and Trade (JCCT), the companies will collaborate to demonstrate existing biofuels technology to produce green transportation fuels using feedstocks available within China. CNPC will also evaluate the installation of a demonstration-scale UOP/Eni Ecofining™ process unit for the production of green diesel fuel, as well as a larger-scale unit at an existing or new CNPC refinery site.
The companies will also collaborate on the design of an Ecofining unit able to produce both green diesel as well as renewable jet fuel from Chinese biofeedstocks, and assess opportunities for raising the energy efficiency of existing and new ethanol plants in China with the use ethanol of membrane technology.
The initiatives will enable CNPC to meet the renewable energy targets set forth by the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) of China and are aligned with a strategic understanding reached by NDRC and the U.S. Department of Energy and the U.S. Department of Agriculture in 2007 to promote industrial energy efficiency improvements and emissions reductions.
“This collaboration will advance the development of viable renewable fuels for the transport sector in China,” said Jennifer Holmgren, general manager of UOP’s Renewable Energy and Chemicals. “Collaboration between governments and private industry is necessary to enable a sustainable biofuels future. We are honored to work with CNPC to support this initiative, and congratulate all of the organizations involved for their commitment to a reduced carbon footprint.”
“As a global Fortune 500 business and a responsible corporation, CNPC has long term commitment in emerging energy technologies and made positive progress,” said Jie Hu, chief engineer of refining & chemicals for CNPC’s PetroChina Company Ltd. “Under the strategic agreement framework between China and the U.S. to promote clean energy technology, our collaboration with UOP to promote advanced biofuel technology will enable the low carbon emission and green economy development in China.”
The Ecofining process uses catalytic hydroprocessing technology to convert natural oils to a green diesel fuel. The product, a direct substitute for diesel fuel, features a high cetane value (the measure of the combustion quality of diesel) of approximately 80. Compared to diesel found at the pump today, which ranges from 40 to 60 cetane, green diesel offers value as a blending stock for refiners seeking to enhance existing diesel fuels and expand the diesel pool.
UOP has also developed process technology to produce renewable jet fuel under a contract from the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) for both military and commercial aircraft. In 2009, UOP announced an alliance with Vaperma to offer Vaperma’s SiftekTM polymer membrane technology, which is designed to lower energy consumption for reduced operational costs and emissions in the energy-intensive ethanol production process.
CNPC is one of the largest oil and gas companies in the world and also one of the pioneer Chinese companies in promoting and deploying advanced biofuel technologies. CNPC is committed to developing biofuel technologies based on plentiful biofeedstocks in China.
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