Elevolve
ElevolveTM - High Performance Catalysts for Renewable Diesel and Sustainable Aviation Fuel
BASF offers advanced high-performance catalysts for the production of Renewable Diesel and Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) using the most adopted production technology.
BASF's ElevolveTM portfolio offers cutting-edge catalysts designed for optimal conversion of bio-derived feedstocks, for example vegetable oils, animal fats, and biobased waste into top quality transportation fuels by using Hydrotreated Esters and Fatty Acids (HEFA) or Hydrotreated Vegetable Oils (HVO) production technology. These catalysts have been optimized to enable production of Renewable Diesel and Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) at highest efficiency.
Improved selectivity combined with exceptional stability offers biofuel producers an opportunity to improve profitability of their plants by maximizing yields of Renewable Diesel or SAF.
Lower your costs with ElevolveTM
Production of renewable fuels is of growing importance as industries are looking to reduce emissions and become more sustainable. While production technologies with HEFA (HVO) are the currently dominant route, the adoption of sustainable fuels is highly affected by manufacturing costs. Lower production costs often imply that Renewable Diesel and SAF become more competitive. The selection of the proper catalyst technology is instrumental to optimize the manufacturing costs. If HEVA (HVO) technology is used to produce SAF, boosting selectivity towards SAF is critical to improve commercial competitiveness of the plant.
ElevolveTM HDI catalysts are there to help.
- Delta cloud point reduction of about 50°C is accessible with much lower yield loss compared to competitive catalysts.
- Extensive isomerization function of ElevolveTM HDI minimizes unselective conversion to gases and prompts selective conversion to SAF range hydrocarbons.
- ElevolveTM HDI catalysts stand out by showing an increased tolerance to impurities using a robust formulation.
Our Portfolio
Hydrodeoxygenation is an important step that converts triglycerides and free fatty acids as feedstocks into hydrocarbons. The catalyst must be selective not to promote hydrocarboxylation and hydrocarbonylation reactions that lead to loss of carbon to CO and CO2 side products. In addition, high exothermicity of oxygenates hydrogenation requires a particular catalysts design that allows for optimal exotherm control in the vessel.
ElevolveTM HDO catalysts portfolio has been designed to offer very selective conversion of oxygenates into hydrocarbons with retention of the original chain length. Novel compositional features of these catalysts help to control the exotherm by limiting undesirable reactions.
In addition to the core high performance HDO catalysts, ElevolveTM portfolio offers advanced metal guards and polishing HDN and HDS catalysts that are required for an optimal HDO reactor design.
HydroIsomerization (HDI) is a crucial step required to meet the stringent specs of Renewable Diesel or SAF. The primary function of the HDI catalyst in a Renewable Diesel production mode is to reduce the cloud point of the hydrotreated vegetable oil to meet the specs of the road diesel fuel which is typically achieved through isomerizing of straight chain hydrocarbons produced in the HDO reactor section.
If the target product is SAF, in addition to the isomerization function, the catalyst is also responsible for converting longer to shorter chain hydrocarbons to maximize the portion of the stock that meets the SAF boiling range specifications. High selectivity of the HDI catalyst towards SAF is a prerequisite for most cost effective operation of the plant if SAF is a preferred product. ElevolveTM HDI portfolio offers unprecedented SAF yields while warranting needed stability and robustness of the catalyst under the demanding process conditions.
Technology Background
The most adopted production technology for Renewable Diesel and SAF is referred to as HEFA (Hydrotreated Esters and Fatty Acids) or HVO (Hydrotreated vegetable oils).
Depending on the configuration of the plant, the process consists of one or two sections. The sour mode is frequently used to produce Renewable Diesel and is often seen as the most cost effective option if a switch to SAF is not required. A typical arrangement of the plant in a sour mode combines hydrodeoxygenation and dewaxing steps in a single reactor.
The sweet mode allows for more flexibility and enables production of either high quality Renewable Diesel or SAF. A typical arrangement includes two reactors with dedicated HDO and HDI sections respectively. As Hydrogen Sulfide is eliminated from the stream after the HDO reactor, this configuration enables using highly selective Platinum and Palladium based HDI catalysts that lead to enhanced Renewable Diesel or SAF yields.
