Multi-client Study Proposal

It is clear from current plans and activities at the major refiners’ operations that responsibility for managing the growing use of biofuels will ultimately be passed through the refiner’s gate.  As a result, refining companies, along with their product and technology suppliers, will be required to work together to reach economically viable, and likely innovative, approaches.  Beyond these hurdles, the broad-ranging and often conflicting government mandates, supports/credits, R&D funding and other issues will further cloud the outlook for reasonable and viable routes long-term.  As they have in the past, refiners will be forced to gather the relevant information and consider it in the context of their objectives, assets and options.

The integration of biofuels into the refinery operations of major fuel producers has posed technical and commercial challenges that require new ways of planning, producing, blending and storing on-spec fuels.  Refiners are in the process of reconfiguring operations which are fundamental to their sites and necessitate significant investment outlays in both technology and capital.  Issues such as the source and constitution of the biofuel (be it bio-ethanol, bio-diesel, bio-butanol and/or other bio-based constituents), the specific handling and storage logistics, the blending requirements to optimize the refinery operation are all leading to assessments for both operability and profitability.  Add to these considerations the continuously changing technology slate (e.g., 1^st generation bio-ethanol and/or bio-diesel, 2^nd generation cellulosic ethanol, hydrogenated fats/oils, products from gasification such as DME and oligomerized olefins, recent 3^rd generation technology “concepts,” etc.) and the makings of an industry-wide rationalization are in order.  TCGR’s study, entitled The Integration of Biofuels “Inside the Refinery Gate:”  Implementation, Logistics and Strategies, is the only one to address the integration and strategic/competitive issues across refinery platforms in biofuels while examining both current and projected products and technologies.  It is forward-looking with practical recommendations for implementation.

Critical in this assessment are three factors:

1) the range of biofuel options and their characteristics based not only on source, but also on final properties and how these characteristics affect integration into blending, storage and site-specific operations;

2) the newer technologies available to produce and/or integrate biofuels within current refinery configurations and their implications on operations including additives and modifiers; and 

3) the strategic and/or competitive issues surrounding the participants in this industry, whether they are integrated global oil refiners, regional biofuel producers, technology developers/licensors and/or catalyst suppliers.

All three (3) will be addressed in TCGR’s study, providing optimized solutions for the industry to make unbiased, independent decisions regarding strategic investments.  This is a report for the industry, by the industry with actionable recommendations for long-term competitiveness and advantage.