The use of renewable energy sources, including fuels derived from biomass, is one of the global initiatives to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. In particular, co-processing biocrudes and petroleum streams in existing refineries is a potentially cost-effective solution to reduce the carbon intensities of transportation fuels by adding renewable content to them. The knowledge about renewable carbon content in refinery products is critical to many transportation and emission related regulations worldwide, including the Renewable Fuel Standard (US) or Clean Fuel Regulation (Canada). Quantifying such information can also incentivize refiners for increasing the renewable carbon content in the transportation fuels they produce.<br/>Tracking and quantifying renewable components during and after co-processing is essential to achieving these goals. In addition, a clear understanding of the compositional changes during co-processing aids in predicting and alleviating potential negative impacts on refinery operations. Gas chromatography (GC) methods are excellent for resolving, identifying, and quantifying individual components in biocrudes, as well as end products. In this presentation, we will demonstrate how gas chromatography can be used to track renewable components during co-processing. We will show that while separation analytical techniques do not fully address the biogenic carbon determination problem, they can improve our understanding of the fate of renewable components in co-processed fuel streams.

Using gas chromatography to track renewable components during biocrude co-processing – from dream to reality

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