NExBTL
Encyclopedia
NExBTL is a renewable diesel production process commercialized by the Finnish
oil and refining company Neste Oil
. Whether as an admixture or in its pure form, NExBTL is able to supplement or partially replace diesel fuel without problems. Unblended NExBTL meets the requirements set by the European standard CEN EN 590
.
Despite the name BTL, the feedstock is plant oil
, not whole plants.
process. Chemically, it entails direct catalytic hydrogenation
of plant oil, which is triglyceride
, into the corresponding alkane
. The glycerol chain of the triglyceride is hydrogenated to the corresponding C3 alkane, propane
— there is no glycerol
sidestream. This process removes oxygen from the oil; the diesel is not an oxygenate
like traditional transesteried biodiesel. Unlike the yellow transesterified biodiesel
, the product is a clear and colorless paraffin, with a good cetane number
(85 to 99) and better properties than even petrodiesel. As it is chemically identical to ideal conventional diesel, it requires no modification or special precautions for the engine.
(or gel point) can be adjusted from −25 ºC to −5 ºC (−13 ºF to 23 ºF) during the manufacturing process, compared to petrodiesel's cloud point range of −23 ºC to 4 ºC (−10 °F to 40 °F), which could improve the cloud point of diesel when blended. The cloud point is the temperature when the wax precipitates out of the fuel in the form of small wax crystals making the fuel cloudy and more difficult to move within the fuel lines and system of a vehicle. The lower the cloud point of a particular fuel is, the more suitable it is in colder environments.
was brought online in 2007 at a capacity of 0.17 million tons per year and another is being built at the same facility to open in 2009. Two larger refineries, with annual production of 0.8 million tons both, are being built in Singapore
and Rotterdam
, to be completed by 2010 and 2011, respectively.
Due to the chemistry of the process, the renewable diesel is pure alkane
and contains no aromatics, oxygen or sulfur.
is the principal (90%) feedstock. Neste has joined the Round Table on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) to certify that the palm oil is produced in a carbon-neutral, environmentally responsible manner. Neste purchases most of its palm oil from IOI
, but requires a separate production chain for the RSPO-certified palm oil, in order not to create demand for rainforest destruction.
Deforestation would release carbon to the atmosphere and thus be counterproductive with respect to the carbon balance. In 2007, Greenpeace
protested the use of palm oil, concluding that the potential for deforestation remains. According to Greenpeace, increasing the production of palm oil reduces the available land area and thus indirectly generates demand for rainforest destruction, even if the palm oil itself is rainforest-certified. Greenpeace notes that RSPO is voluntary organization and claims that government regulation in palm oil producing countries, like Indonesia
, cannot be relied on because of political corruption
. Greenpeace also claims that palm oil diesel can actually produce 3–10 times more carbon dioxide emissions than petrodiesel because of the indirect effects of clearing of swamp
s, forest fires and indirect generation of demand for land area. Greenpeace demands that Neste should use domestic feedstocks like rapeseed oil or biogas
instead. However, rapeseed is a slower-growing cold-climate source with lesser carbon binding potential than the oil palm, making emissions from cultivation and transport proportionally more severe.
Neste Oil is continuing to look into new feedstock including algae
, jatropha
and microbial oil
.
and the Helsinki City Transport
conducted a three-year experiment by running buses with 25% NExBTL diesel at first and then switching to 100% in 2008. The trial, which was the largest field test of a biofuel produced from renewable raw materials worldwide, was a success: local emissions were decreased significantly, with particle emissions decreased by 30% and nitrogen oxide emissions by 10%, with excellent winter performance and no problems with catalytic converters.
Germany requires the use of renewable fuel, therefore it is expected to be a major market for NExBTL.
Following a proposal by VDA
, Daimler Trucks and Daimler Buses recommend the biofuel NExBTL as an admixture
to petrodiesel.
Finland
Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...
oil and refining company Neste Oil
Neste Oil
Neste Oil is a Finnish oil refining and marketing company producing mainly transportation fuels and other refined petroleum products. Neste Oil shares are quoted on the Helsinki Stock Exchange.- History :...
. Whether as an admixture or in its pure form, NExBTL is able to supplement or partially replace diesel fuel without problems. Unblended NExBTL meets the requirements set by the European standard CEN EN 590
EN 590
EN590 describes the physical properties that all automotive diesel fuel must meet if it is to be sold in the European Union, Croatia, Iceland, Norway and Switzerland....
.
Despite the name BTL, the feedstock is plant oil
Vegetable fats and oils
Vegetable fats and oils are lipid materials derived from plants. Physically, oils are liquid at room temperature, and fats are solid. Chemically, both fats and oils are composed of triglycerides, as contrasted with waxes which lack glycerin in their structure...
, not whole plants.
Process
NExBTL diesel is produced in a patented vegetable oil refiningVegetable oil refining
Vegetable oil can be used as feedstock for an oil refinery. There it can be transformed into fuel by hydrocracking or hydrogenation . These methods can produce gasoline, diesel, and propane. Some commercial examples of vegetable oil refining are NExBTL, H-Bio, and the ConocoPhilips process...
process. Chemically, it entails direct catalytic hydrogenation
Hydrogenation
Hydrogenation, to treat with hydrogen, also a form of chemical reduction, is a chemical reaction between molecular hydrogen and another compound or element, usually in the presence of a catalyst. The process is commonly employed to reduce or saturate organic compounds. Hydrogenation typically...
of plant oil, which is triglyceride
Triglyceride
A triglyceride is an ester derived from glycerol and three fatty acids. There are many triglycerides, depending on the oil source, some are highly unsaturated, some less so....
, into the corresponding alkane
Alkane
Alkanes are chemical compounds that consist only of hydrogen and carbon atoms and are bonded exclusively by single bonds without any cycles...
. The glycerol chain of the triglyceride is hydrogenated to the corresponding C3 alkane, propane
Propane
Propane is a three-carbon alkane with the molecular formula , normally a gas, but compressible to a transportable liquid. A by-product of natural gas processing and petroleum refining, it is commonly used as a fuel for engines, oxy-gas torches, barbecues, portable stoves, and residential central...
— there is no glycerol
Glycerol
Glycerol is a simple polyol compound. It is a colorless, odorless, viscous liquid that is widely used in pharmaceutical formulations. Glycerol has three hydroxyl groups that are responsible for its solubility in water and its hygroscopic nature. The glycerol backbone is central to all lipids...
sidestream. This process removes oxygen from the oil; the diesel is not an oxygenate
Oxygenate
Oxygenated chemical compounds contain oxygen as a part of their chemical structure. The term usually refers to oxygenated fuels. Oxygenates are usually employed as gasoline additives to reduce carbon monoxide that is created during the burning of the fuel....
like traditional transesteried biodiesel. Unlike the yellow transesterified biodiesel
Biodiesel
Biodiesel refers to a vegetable oil- or animal fat-based diesel fuel consisting of long-chain alkyl esters. Biodiesel is typically made by chemically reacting lipids with an alcohol....
, the product is a clear and colorless paraffin, with a good cetane number
Cetane number
Cetane number or CN is a measurement of the combustion quality of diesel fuel during compression ignition. It is a significant expression of diesel fuel quality among a number of other measurements that determine overall diesel fuel quality.- Definition :...
(85 to 99) and better properties than even petrodiesel. As it is chemically identical to ideal conventional diesel, it requires no modification or special precautions for the engine.
Cloud point
The cloud pointCloud point
The cloud point of a fluid is the temperature at which dissolved solids are no longer completely soluble, precipitating as a second phase giving the fluid a cloudy appearance...
(or gel point) can be adjusted from −25 ºC to −5 ºC (−13 ºF to 23 ºF) during the manufacturing process, compared to petrodiesel's cloud point range of −23 ºC to 4 ºC (−10 °F to 40 °F), which could improve the cloud point of diesel when blended. The cloud point is the temperature when the wax precipitates out of the fuel in the form of small wax crystals making the fuel cloudy and more difficult to move within the fuel lines and system of a vehicle. The lower the cloud point of a particular fuel is, the more suitable it is in colder environments.
Production
A refinery in Porvoo, FinlandPorvoo
Porvoo is a city and a municipality situated on the southern coast of Finland approximately east of Helsinki. Porvoo is one of the six medieval towns in Finland, first mentioned as a city in texts from 14th century...
was brought online in 2007 at a capacity of 0.17 million tons per year and another is being built at the same facility to open in 2009. Two larger refineries, with annual production of 0.8 million tons both, are being built in Singapore
Singapore
Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...
and Rotterdam
Rotterdam
Rotterdam is the second-largest city in the Netherlands and one of the largest ports in the world. Starting as a dam on the Rotte river, Rotterdam has grown into a major international commercial centre...
, to be completed by 2010 and 2011, respectively.
Emissions
Neste has calculated that the use of NExBTL cuts carbon dioxide emissions by 40 to 60 percent, taking into account the entire production and transport chain.Due to the chemistry of the process, the renewable diesel is pure alkane
Alkane
Alkanes are chemical compounds that consist only of hydrogen and carbon atoms and are bonded exclusively by single bonds without any cycles...
and contains no aromatics, oxygen or sulfur.
Feedstocks
A mix of palm oil, rapeseed oil, and waste fat from the food industry can be used, and palm oilPalm oil
Palm oil, coconut oil and palm kernel oil are edible plant oils derived from the fruits of palm trees. Palm oil is extracted from the pulp of the fruit of the oil palm Elaeis guineensis; palm kernel oil is derived from the kernel of the oil palm and coconut oil is derived from the kernel of the...
is the principal (90%) feedstock. Neste has joined the Round Table on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) to certify that the palm oil is produced in a carbon-neutral, environmentally responsible manner. Neste purchases most of its palm oil from IOI
IOI Group
IOI Corporation Berhad commonly referred to as IOI, was incorporated on 31 October 1969 as Industrial Oxygen Incorporated Sdn Bhd. IOI is one of Malaysia's biggest conglomerates that started off from industrial gas manufacturing. It ventured into property development in 1982, followed by oil palm...
, but requires a separate production chain for the RSPO-certified palm oil, in order not to create demand for rainforest destruction.
Deforestation would release carbon to the atmosphere and thus be counterproductive with respect to the carbon balance. In 2007, Greenpeace
Greenpeace
Greenpeace is a non-governmental environmental organization with offices in over forty countries and with an international coordinating body in Amsterdam, The Netherlands...
protested the use of palm oil, concluding that the potential for deforestation remains. According to Greenpeace, increasing the production of palm oil reduces the available land area and thus indirectly generates demand for rainforest destruction, even if the palm oil itself is rainforest-certified. Greenpeace notes that RSPO is voluntary organization and claims that government regulation in palm oil producing countries, like Indonesia
Indonesia
Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...
, cannot be relied on because of political corruption
Political corruption
Political corruption is the use of legislated powers by government officials for illegitimate private gain. Misuse of government power for other purposes, such as repression of political opponents and general police brutality, is not considered political corruption. Neither are illegal acts by...
. Greenpeace also claims that palm oil diesel can actually produce 3–10 times more carbon dioxide emissions than petrodiesel because of the indirect effects of clearing of swamp
Swamp
A swamp is a wetland with some flooding of large areas of land by shallow bodies of water. A swamp generally has a large number of hammocks, or dry-land protrusions, covered by aquatic vegetation, or vegetation that tolerates periodical inundation. The two main types of swamp are "true" or swamp...
s, forest fires and indirect generation of demand for land area. Greenpeace demands that Neste should use domestic feedstocks like rapeseed oil or biogas
Biogas
Biogas typically refers to a gas produced by the biological breakdown of organic matter in the absence of oxygen. Organic waste such as dead plant and animal material, animal dung, and kitchen waste can be converted into a gaseous fuel called biogas...
instead. However, rapeseed is a slower-growing cold-climate source with lesser carbon binding potential than the oil palm, making emissions from cultivation and transport proportionally more severe.
Neste Oil is continuing to look into new feedstock including algae
Algae fuel
Algae fuel might be an alternative to fossil fuel and uses algae as its source of natural deposits. Several companies and government agencies are funding efforts to reduce capital and operating costs and make algae fuel production commercially viable...
, jatropha
Jatropha oil
Jatropha oil is vegetable oil produced from the seeds of the Jatropha curcas, a plant that can grow in marginal lands.-Use as biodiesel:...
and microbial oil
Microbial oil
Microbial oil is a triglyceride produced by a microbe, and is similar to vegetable oil, another biologically produced oil. Some species of yeast are able to convert food into triglycerides and accumulate the produced lipids when fed carbohydrates...
.
Use
This diesel is blended with petrodiesel and sold in Neste stations. A market is created because the European Union requires that 5.75 per cent of transport fuels should be biofuels by 2010. The EU further decided on 18 December, 2008 that by 2020 the share of energy from renewable sources in all forms of transportation is at least 10% of the final consumption of energy. Systems and regions without an electrical grid will be the long term market for hydrogenated vegetable oils as the EU prefers electrical use by factor 2.5. In the Helsinki area, the Helsinki Metropolitan Area CouncilHelsinki Metropolitan Area Council
The Helsinki Metropolitan Area Council was a co-operation agency operating in the Helsinki Metropolitan Area, now replaced by HSL and HSY. The organisation had a few responsibilities, most notably regional public transport and waste management. It was subordinated to the city councils of the four...
and the Helsinki City Transport
Helsinki City Transport
Helsinki City Transport or HKL is the official city-owned public transport company in Helsinki, Finland. It operates the Helsinki metro, Helsinki tram and ferry boat traffic...
conducted a three-year experiment by running buses with 25% NExBTL diesel at first and then switching to 100% in 2008. The trial, which was the largest field test of a biofuel produced from renewable raw materials worldwide, was a success: local emissions were decreased significantly, with particle emissions decreased by 30% and nitrogen oxide emissions by 10%, with excellent winter performance and no problems with catalytic converters.
Germany requires the use of renewable fuel, therefore it is expected to be a major market for NExBTL.
Following a proposal by VDA
VDA
The Verband der Automobilindustrie e. V., short VDA, is a German interest group of the German automobile industry, both automobile manufactures and automobile component suppliers. The group is located in Berlin, Germany...
, Daimler Trucks and Daimler Buses recommend the biofuel NExBTL as an admixture
Mixture
In chemistry, a mixture is a material system made up by two or more different substances which are mixed together but are not combined chemically...
to petrodiesel.