Presentation Profile
Remodelling FFA and Magnesium after Feedstock Change
Currently Scheduled: 10/11/2023 - 10:30 AM - 11:00 AM
Room: Hibiscus
Main Author
Richard Salliss - Keit Industrial Analytics
Abstract:
Globally there is a growing focus on moving away from the use of traditional petrochemical and fossil fuel-based energy sources due to their unsustainable, environmentally damaging and non-renewable nature. A more sustainable alternative that is gaining traction is renewable diesel, which is produced from agricultural triglycerides including fats, oils and greases. Typically, these feedstocks are hydrotreated to form mixtures of paraffinic hydrocarbons in the diesel boiling range. Due to the variety of feedstocks used to produce renewable diesel, a pre-treatment step is essential to remove various contaminants responsible for the fouling of equipment and the deactivation of valuable catalysts in downstream operations. This usually involves various degumming and bleaching processes to remove these impurities. Monitoring the pre-treatment process is therefore paramount to ensuring the process runs efficiently. Some of the impurities measured at this stage are phosphorus (P), water (H2O), free fatty acids (FFA) and various metals. Traditionally, these are measured off-line using titrations and inductively coupled plasma techniques which can be slow and laborious. Continually monitoring these impurities online can result in a better understanding of the process, enabling real time analysis and effective process control. Here we present the use of a static-optics inline FTIR instrument to calibrate for contaminants in renewable diesel feedstocks. We show that the calibration models are independent of feedstock, making them ideal for renewable diesel production where feedstock types tend to vary.
