A techno-economic evaluation of bio-oil co-processing within a petroleum refinery

The high oxygen content of bio-oil still impedes its direct use as a transportation fuel. The vast experience of the petroleum refinery industry in fuel upgrading, however, provides an incentive to explore co-processing options. In this study, the techno-economic evaluation of co-processing of raw and hydrodeoxegenated (HDO) bio-oil, along with the long residue in a fluid catalytic cracking (FCC) unit in a petroleum refinery, has been examined. A holistic software model has been developed in Microsoft Excel of a petroleum refinery along with a biomass pyrolysis plant. The economic impact on the Net Present Value (NPV), relative to a base case, is presented in addition to a sensitivity analysis of key parameters. The impacts of changes in crude oil prices, refinery capacity, biomass plant capacity and bio-oil yield are examined. It is clear from the results that co-processing is highly sensitive to changes in prices of crude oil and petroleum products. Co-processing is shown to be economically attractive at crude oil prices of 60$/bbl for raw bio-oil and above 120$/bbl for HDO bio-oil. Though the co-processing option is favorable to bio-oil producers, technological advancements are still required in order to improve the quality of the bio-oil produced.