Seeking to contribute to Colombia’s energy transition and mitigate dependence on fossil fuels, researchers from Antioquia, Colombia, developed equipment capable of processing green, blue, and gray hydrogen, as well as residual cooking oils and animal fats to generate renewable diesel and jet fuel (biojet).
This is the Power to X project, developed thanks to an alliance between the Industrial Chemical Processes (PQI) research group of the University of Antioquia, led by engineer Luis Alberto Ríos; the Efficient Energy Management (Gimel) group, led by Professor John Ramiro Agudelo; the University of La Guajira; Fedepalma, and the company IEA Instruments.
It was also advised by entities such as the University of Michigan (United States), the University of Castilla de la Mancha (Spain) and the Mining-Energy Planning Unit (UPME).
“One of the great challenges of renewable technologies is the acquisition of this equipment due to its high prices, long delivery times and high repair and maintenance costs: on average, a research and development equipment with a production capacity of 1 liter/day of renewable diesel costs around 1,000 million pesos,” explained James Alberto Marín, general manager of IEA Instruments.
Precisely, this was what led this alliance between university, company and the State to develop, with a budget of about 800 million pesos,a modular equipment that can process 30 liters/day of animal fats and low-quality residual cooking oils to obtain renewable diesel or biojet.
In addition, it has a much greater scope than conventional ones, as it can process hydrogen (green, blue, grey, magenta and white), CO2 and also obtain synthetic natural gas.
The Gimel group, from the University of Antioquia, is in charge of testing the new biofuels in conventional engines, in order to define their quality and technical parameters.
What’s next?
This type of technology, known worldwide as Power to Liquid (PtL), seeks to energetically densify green hydrogen into liquid molecules with a higher calorific value than the biofuel produced.
For this reason, according to Marín, this modular equipment is highly flexible, also allowing it to transform the main greenhouse gas (CO2) into alcohols such as methanol for the biodiesel or plastic industry. Or convert CO2 into synthetic natural gas and other hydrocarbons of interest in the energy industry.
“The technology we use is known as Power to X, where Power is electricity and X is the other resulting molecule with energy value, representing the processing of different raw materials (gases and liquids) that, together with hydrogen, generate value-added products for different markets,” he added.
Now, after the development and installation stage, Claudia Gómez, a researcher with the PQI group, said that they are working on the production of biofuels, as well as the evaluation of mechanical performance and emissions in commercial and aviation diesel engines.
“The aim is to valorise the technology by evaluating scenarios for a small-scale prototype in a biorefinery. In addition, activities will be carried out to identify negotiation scenarios with other developers of existing technologies in the market, as well as investors and companies,” he said.
But the challenges are not few. According to Karen Peralta, director of the Andi-Naturgas Hydrogen Chamber, in order for these renewable technologies to be more competitive in Colombia, the country’s priority must be to create conditions conducive to boosting long-term investment, with stable policies and regulatory frameworks that encourage this type of project.
Another crucial element is to promote demand in strategic sectors such as air and cargo transport, refineries, and fertilizer, steel, and cement production industries.
Likewise, he said, the value of the technology needed to harness renewable energy sources must be reduced.
SOURCE: El Colombiano
Original Article in Spanish: En Medellín crean planta para producir combustibles a partir de hidrógeno y aceites residuales (elcolombiano.com)
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