US oil and natural gas company Diamond Green Diesel is set to double the production capacity of its Norco renewable diesel plant using Honeywell technology, Biomass reported on 3 November.
The Norco plant converts inedible oils and waste fats into renewable diesel fuel.
Honeywell UOP’s 30,000 barrels/day Ecofining process unit is the second to be installed at the Louisiana plant.
Established in 2013 as a 10,000 barrels/day renewable diesel plant, the Norco facility was expanded to its current 18,000 barrels/day capacity in 2018.
Following the first expansion, Diamond Green Diesel, a joint venture of Darling Ingredients and a subsidiary of Valero Energy Group, announced plans to further increase capacity to 675M gallons/year.
The expansion project was currently underway and on track to be completed in 2021, Biomass said.
Honeywell said the Ecofining technology was currently in operation at four commercial-scale facilities, including two in the USA and two in Europe.
Jointly developed by UOP and Eni SpA, the Ecofining process converts non-edible oils and animal fats into fuel that, according to the company, was chemically identical to petroleum-based diesel and offered up to an 80% lifecycle reduction in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.
Fuel produced by the Ecofining process has a cetane value of 80, compared with a cetane range of 40-60 found in diesel at the pump, according to Honeywell. The company said this meant it performed well at cold or warm temperatures and could be used as a blendstock for cheaper low-cetane diesel to meet transportation standards.
Honeywell said the Ecofining technology could also produce renewable jet fuel that could be blended with petroleum-based jet fuel.
When used In up to a 50% blend with petroleum-based jet fuel, Honeywell Green Jet Fuel required no changes to aircraft technology and met critical flight specifications, the company said.
