Improve the quality and yield of your biofuel production with HVO pretreament
Are you looking to improve the quality of your biofuel production or comply with new legislation? Alfa Laval HVO pretreatment systems can transform fats and oils into the feedstock you need to produce renewable diesel and sustainable aviation fuel.
DATE 2023-11-28Why HVO pretreatment?
There are several good reasons to pretreat fats and oils. Removing or reducing the contaminants in crude fats and oils to acceptable levels is critical. Contaminants include solids, moisture, chlorides, proteins, polyethylene, phosphorus, metals and sulphur, to name a few. Pretreating also protects equipment, maximizes catalyst lifetime, and ensures high yields of renewable fuels downstream.
Removing contaminants from fats and oils
The most common processes to remove contaminants from fats and oils are special degumming and adsorption. On the one hand, degumming is a must to prevent equipment fouling, catalyst pressure drop, and loss of catalyst activity. Adsorption, on the other, removes any residual phosphatides after degumming and reduces metal content. There are also optional processes, including chloride mitigation and polyethene removal, to ensure high-quality renewables.
HVO pretreatment design considerations
When designing an HVO pretreatment system, it’s important to keep in mind the types of feedstock used, by-product disposal, plant location, the number of lines or trains, and availability. Wastewater management is also critical. Typical degumming and chloride mitigation processes, for instance, generally generate wastewater equivalent to up to 10% of the oil flow. To maximize water recovery, recycling and reuse, the design of the HVO pre-treatment system must therefore also accommodate appropriate wastewater management systems. Recovering and reusing waste heat is another consideration that would enable process water to be produced from high-salinity water from nearby sources.
Why Alfa Laval?
Rely on Alfa Laval for comprehensive water- and energy-efficient solutions for the edible oil and the petroleum refining industries. From producing crude oils to complete refining plants and fat modification plants, including HVO prereatment systems, all backed by a global service network with local presence.
Curious about HVO pretreatment? Learn more here.
