1 ECONOMIC AND EUROPEAN UNION ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY CRITERIA ASSESSMENT OF BIO-OIL BASED BIOFUEL SYSTEMS: REFINERY INTEGRATION CASES

ABSTRACT: The biofuel mix in transport in the UK must be increased from currently exploited 3.33% to the EU target mix of 10 % by 2020. Under the face of this huge challenge, the most viable way forward is to process infrastructure-compatible intermediate, such as bio-oil from fast pyrolysis of lignocellulosic biomass, into biofuels. New facilities may integrate multiple distributed pyrolysis units producing bio-oil from locally available biomass and centralised biofuel production platforms, such as methanol or Fischer-Tropsch liquid synthesis utilising syngas derived from gasification of bio-oil. Alternative to bio-oil gasification is hydrotreating and hydrocracking (upgrading) of bio-oil into stable oil with reduced oxygen content. The stable oil can then be co-processed into targeted transportation fuel mix within refinery in exchange of refinery hydrogen to the upgrader. This paper focuses on the evaluation of economic and environmental sustainability of industrial scale biofuel production systems from bio-oils. An overview of bio-oil gasification based system evaluation is presented, whilst comprehensive process reaction modelling (with 40 overall bio-oil hydrocracking and hydrotreating reaction steps), simulation, integration and value analysis frameworks are illustrated for bio-oil upgrading and refinery co-processing systems. The environmental analysis shows that the former technologies are able to meet the minimum greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reduction target of 60%, to be eligible for the European Union (EU