Biofuel Demonstration Plant
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PROBLEM Oahu does not currently have a refinery capable of processing bio-oils into gas and liquid products.
PROJECT The Gas Company will test and evaluate thermal cracking of various types of bio-oil feedstocks and assess process and operating parameter scalability in a newly installed pilot production plant.
AWARD $2,000,000 (HREDV 50%, private 50%)
LOCATION Kapolei, Oahu
SUMMARY
The Gas Company (TGC) will build a Biofuel Demonstration Plant to process up to 1 million gallons per year of oil from renewable fats, oils and greases into products such as renewable natural gas for residential and commercial customers throughout Oahu.
To help meet the clean energy goals set forth by the state, TGC has commissioned equipment capable of processing renewable bio-oils into higher value products such as bio-naphtha, bio-gas, bio-diesel and renewable hydrogen. Over the past 30 months TGC has designed, built and installed a biofuel demonstration plant at its Synthetic Natural Gas (SNG) facility in Campbell Industrial Park.
The biofuel demonstration plant converts plant oils and animal fats into renewable liquid and gaseous fuels. The renewable products will be incorporated into the existing gas manufacturing and distribution operations. This demonstration project will seek to achieve an annual renewable bio-oil input rate of one million gallons per year to produce a renewable gas stream to customers. The goal of the project is to determine the scientific feasibility of scaling the technology to achieve greater processing capacity. Thus, the biofuel plant has a modular design to facilitate expansion and accommodate increasing demand and supply. In addition, HREDV funding will support feedstock testing to allow for a greater variety of renewable feedstocks.
The biofuel demonstration plant testing and production will begin in early November. The expected outcomes of the project are to:
- Develop processes, procedures and operational parameters to produce specific types of renewable gaseous and liquid products from various sustainable feedstock;
- Identify the technical and economic feasibility of increasing plant capacity;
- Determine how renewable products are best incorporated into existing operations; and,
- Support the development of local sources of renewable feedstock, and determine quantity and cost.
TGC supplies Hawaii with clean and efficient gas energy throughout the state. TGC supplies SNG through a 1,100-mile pipeline network to over 28,000 residential and commercial utility customers on Oahu. Nearly half of the total gas distributed by TGC is manufactured on Oahu at the SNG facility.
TGC has already made a significant investment in designing and fabricating the demonstration scale bio-oil processing pilot plant and is in the process of integrating it with its existing SNG plant to meet the energy needs of Hawaii. Because TGC is unique in owning and operating this SNG infrastructure, it has the potential to utilize this new technology to both produce and utilize renewable liquid and gaseous fuels.