UOP technology for California advanced biofuel plant

September 1, 2010

Petrochemical technology firm UOP has won a contract to provide process equipment for a new advanced biofuel plant in Rialto, California.

The company, a subsidiary of the conglomerate Honeywell, said today it will provide hydroprocessing systems for the Rialto Renewable Energy Center, being developed by Rentech, Inc.

The facility is being designed to convert biomass including wood waste into renewable fuels, from biodiesel to jet fuel.

UOP, which has its HQ in Des Plaines, Illinois, will provide its Unionfining and Unicracking systems to work with Rentech’s own technology at the plant.

The Rialto plant will include a Rentech-SilvaGas gasification system to convert biomass materials into a synthesis gas (syngas), which will then be cleaned up using Rentech’s proprietary Fischer-Tropsch process and catalyst.

The UOP systems will then be used to upgrade the cleaned hydrocarbons to produce jet fuel or biodiesel.

“Clean fuels”

“Our technology helps Rentech to produce high-quality, ultra-clean transport fuels, meeting all product standards with a near-zero carbon footprint,” said UOP Business Director for Refining Ashis Banerji. “The Rialto Project is an important step in increasing capacity of clean fuels from non-traditional sources.”

The Rialto center is expected to produce 640 barrels-per-day of liquid fuel and 35 megawatts of base-load electricity, enough to power approximately 30,000 homes each day.

According to Rentech, engineering work by contractor Fluor is well underway at the Rialto plant, which is scheduled to start up in late 2012.

Timothy DeFoe, Project Director for the Rialto Renewable Energy Center, said: “The Rialto Project continues to advance, with FEED engineering work well under way. The project, anticipated to be the nation’s first commercial biomass gasification facility for the co-production of renewable synthetic fuels and power, will serve as a model for next generation clean energy production.”

Rentech agreed a multi-year agreement with eight airlines back in August 2009 to provide up to 1.5 million gallons of renewable diesel each year for use in ground service equipment at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX).

LA-based Rentech is developing a demonstration plant at its site in Commerce City, Colorado, and is also working with partners on other biorefinery projects, including a facility in Tennessee (see this BrighterEnergy.org story).