Novel Association Designs Process To Make Renewable Fuels From Green Refineries
Synthetic fuels from renewable energies are necessary to achieve the climate goals in transport. The so-called reFuels promise a CO 2 reduction of up to 90 percent compared to conventional fuels. In order to be able to cover future needs in heavy goods, air and ship traffic, as well as for the supply of basic materials to the chemical industry, we need appropriate industrial plants. In the REF4FU project, researchers at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) and their partners now want to find out how many reFuels are actually required and what the green refineries of the future will have to be like in order to provide them reliably.
“Even with increasing electromobility in the transport sector, liquid fuels will still be needed for a long time,” says Professor Nicolaus Dahmen from the Institute for Catalysis Research and Technology (IKFT) at KIT, who heads the “Refineries for Future” (REF4FU) project. Because: “Today, only 60 percent of the fuel flows into individual car traffic.” Anyone who speaks of combustion engines is therefore only talking about car engines. That is why the project is now about developing, testing and standardizing completely renewable fuels for all areas of transport, which can also be used by the vehicles in the existing fleet on the road, on water and in the air.
Renewable raw materials are the starting point
The starting point is sustainably produced hydrogen, pyrolysis oil from organic residues such as straw or residual wood, methanol from renewable raw materials and Fischer-Tropsch oil, which corresponds to green crude oil. “The advantage is that these products can be transported, stored and traded like crude oil is today,” explains Dahmen. In addition, green crude oil is also used in the chemical industry, for example for the production of plastics.
Market ramp-up scenarios
ReFuels are already being manufactured, albeit on a pre-industrial scale: “There are already corresponding processes and also large pilot plants that are technically mature and are already producing tons of synthetic fuel,” says Dahmen. It is unclear how the fuels are to get onto the market and thus to the customers. “We can’t just stand on the side of the road with a barrel to sell it,” says Dahmen. In order to find out when and where which amounts of synthetic petrol, diesel or kerosene are needed, the researchers work with scenarios. In doing so, they take into account, for example, the political goals regarding the electrification of car traffic or the expected development in the various transport sectors. “Accordingly, petrol will probably be the first to disappear from the market,” believes Dammen. This in turn will have an impact on the design of future production capacities.
The REF4FU joint project coordinated by KIT is funded with around 7 million euros by the Federal Ministry for Digital Affairs and Transport. In addition to institutes of the KIT (IKFT, IMVT, EBI-ceb, IFKM, IIP), partners are the DLR – German Aerospace Center, the German Biomass Research Center (DBFZ), the Technical University Bergakademie Freiberg and the Chemical Plant Engineering Chemnitz, the BASF, EDL Anlagenbau and Ineratec; the refinery MiRO, Porsche and ASG are associated partners.
As “The Research University in the Helmholtz Association”, KIT creates and imparts knowledge for society and the environment. The aim is to make significant contributions to global challenges in the fields of energy, mobility and information. Around 9,800 employees work together on a broad disciplinary basis in natural sciences, engineering, economics, humanities and social sciences. KIT prepares its 22,300 students for responsible tasks in society, business, and science through research-oriented university studies. The innovation activity at KIT bridges the gap between knowledge and application for social benefit, economic prosperity and the preservation of our natural foundations of life.