Processing Technologies

for Pre-treatment of
HVO/HEFA Feedstocks

www.desmetballestra.com
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Hydrotreated Vegetable Oil (HVO)
 Hydrotreated Vegetable Oil (HVO) commonly referred to as ‘renewable diesel’, is produced via catalytic
hydroprocessing of oils and fats, consisting of paraffinic hydrocarbons.

 HVO is free of aromatics and oxygen, very low in sulfur, phosphorous, nitrogen, metals and other elements, and
has a high cetane number. HVO offers a number of benefits over FAME (Fatty Acid Methyl Esters), such as reduced
NOx emission, low particulate emission, better storage stability and better cold flow properties. HVO can be used
in all diesel engines and is approved as aviation fuel.

 HVO can be produced from a wide variety of raw materials containing triglycerides and fatty acids. A wide
range of waste and residue materials from oils and fats processing , like used cooking oils, fatty acid distillates, acid
oils and animal fats, can be used to produce HVO.

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HVO Production – Pre-treatment

Definition
The different raw materials need to be ‘cleaned’ before going in the hydrotreating unit to ensure the lifetime of the
catalyst and the proper functioning of the HVO unit

Need for a ‘Pre-treatment unit’ before the HVO unit

Water
CO2

Fatty acid containing

materials, e.g. Hydrotreating,
vegetable oils or HVO hydrodeoxygenation Diesel, Naphta
industrial waste Pre-treatment (HDO) and Aviation Fuels
and residue fats and isomerization
and oils

Propane
Hydrogen

HVO Feedstock
Edible feedstocks

Soybean oil Rapeseed oil Palm oil Sunflower oil

Non-edible feedstocks

Distiller’s corn oil Waste animal fats Used cooking oils

Oil processing side streams
Legislation promoting use of non-edible feedstocks to discourage use of edible oils (food vs fuel) Distillates (FAD) Acid oils
and eliminate waste oil streams in feed (food/feed safety) Recovered oils from adsorbents (SBEO)
Sludge POME

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HVO Technology Providers

HVO Technology suppliers ( through license )

 Haldor Topsoe (Denmark ): HydroFlexTM process

 UOP / ENI (US/Italy ): Ecofining process
 Axens ( France ): Vegan process

In-house HVO Technology users

 Neste ( Finland ): pioneer using in-house technology (NxtBTL)

 ConocoPhillips ( US )
 PetroBras ( Br )
 Nippon Oil ( Japan )
 Shell ( UK/Ndls )
 Etc.

H2 H2 Lights

Gasoline
Hydrocracking / isomerization

0
Hydro-treatment

0H
Fatty acid feedstock Jet

Diesel

Desmet Ballestra is able to comply and supply HVO Pre-

treatment plants meeting ANY specifications and processes
required by ALL HVO licensors

Desmet Ballestra can optimize the pre-treatment processes to

match HVO licensors requirements on a case to case basis

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Pre-treatment of HVO/HEFA Feedstocks:
key to efficient Hydro-treatment

Edible feedstocks Oil pre-treatment Oil pre-treatment Oil pre-treatment

Soybean oil Removal of impurities process technologies
Rapeseed oil affecting life time of HVO Standard Pre-treatment
Palm oil catalyst Efficient Wet acid degumming;
Enzymatic
Flexible
Non-edible feedstocks P, S, Cl, … degumming/deoiling
Used cooking oils Metals (Fe, Cu, Ni, …) Safe
Animal fats Elements (Ca, Mg, Na, K, …) Reliable Dry adsorptive bleaching
Fatty acid distillates Polyethylene (PE) (single/double)
Sustainable PE settling & removal
Acid oils Solid impurities
Sludge palm oil FFA Stripping
…
DGS corn oil Alternate Pre-treatment
Recovered oils from Fat splitting
adsorbents (SBEO) FA distillation
…

Hydro-treatment
Pre-treatment
Vegetable oils processes
for impurities Hydroisomerization
feedstock (Hydrogenation,
removal HDO and HDC)

Normal paraffins of Jetfuels with prominent

high cetane number cold flow properties

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Desmet Ballestra – 3D layout example

Desmet Ballestra designs the pre-treatment

plants in an optimum way to allow easy
access to all process equipments and to
facilitate maintenance works.

Desmet Ballestra can supply also the storage

of absorbents and the storage of chemicals
needed for the plant.

Multiple degumming lines can be foreseen in

function of the required plant capacities.

Required filtration area is carefully designed to

allow processing of low quality waste fats.
Filters can be aligned to allow evacuation of
spent bleaching earth by redler transport system
to central point. Spent cake cooler can be added
for safety.

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Desmet Ballestra Purpose

DB Preamble

 DB has an extensive portfolio of refining/pre-treatment technologies and many references in the field of
vegetable Oils & Fats industry with more than 75 years of servicing this specific industry

 DB is World leader in ‘classical’ Biodiesel market installing over 125 plants or, in other words,
over 20 million tons on a total world production capacity of about 50 million tons

 DB is active in this segment for the last decade and has engineered and commissioned several pre-treatment
plants for major HVO producers that are today in full operation

 DB is continuously improving the efficiency, the yield, the reliability and the safety aspects of
the pre-treatment plants thanks to the experience gained through the years

DB Purpose

 DB supplies the pre-treatment front end of the HVO process (mostly as Engineering Procurement project)

 DB pre-treatment plants produce in-spec feedstock to feed the HVO process, especially with focus
on low metals and phosphorous content

 DB pre-treatment plants are designed to reach the best Operational Expenses (OPEX) parameters

 DB pre-treatment plants meet the high capacity range required by this industry market
(up to 5000 tpd/35000 bpd and more)

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Desmet Ballestra Advantages

REDUCED WITH
ADVANCED
OPERATING & MAXIMUM
PROCESS
MAINTENANCE FEEDSTOCK
TECHNOLOGY
COST ( OPEX ) FLEXIBILITY

 Small overall dimensions of equipment and process units allowing short start-up and shutdown time
and enabling easy feedstock changes

 Equipment of simple and proven mechanical design, high efficiency and negligible maintenance.

 Low utilities and chemicals consumptions due to the high efficiency in process design.

 Reduced water and gaseous effluents by recycling process water

 Normal stream factor of 8000h, but plant availability can be increased up to >8500h

 Flexible design allowing many different feedstocks and blends

 Design can be customized in function of feedstocks type and availability up to a capacity

of 5000 TPD/35000 BPD or more

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 DB-HVO-28/07/2021
Let’s protect together our Planet, People and Plants

www.desmetballestra.com
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