August 2012, Volume 3, No.

4 International Journal of Chemical and Environmental Engineering

Energy and Greenhouse Gas Evaluation of Biodiesel and Bio-hydrogenated Diesel from Palm Oil in a Life Cycle Perspective
Rotwiroon P.a,*, Chatchupong T.a, Malakul P.b,c , Papong S.b
a b

PTT Research and Technology Institute, PTT Public Company Limited, Ayuthaya, Thailand National Metal and Materials Technology Center, Thailand Science Park, Pathumthani, Thailand c The Petroleum and Petrochemical College, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, Thailand * Corresponding AuthorE-mail: paritta.r@pttplc.com

Abstract:
Biodiesel, produced from seed oils via the transesterification process, is one of the promising alternative fuels for transportation in Thailand because of its potential environmental benefits. Recently, bio-hydrogenated diesel (BHD), produced from new process technologies based on hydro-treating process converting seed oils to diesel fuel, has been emerged. BHD has become more interesting as alternative fuel because of its similarity to conventional diesel. In Thailand, palm oil is found to be a suitable raw material for biobased fuels due to its large available quantity of feed stock. The objective of this study is to evaluate the energy consumption and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of biodiesel and BHD from palm oil as transportation fuels in Thailand using life cycle technique. The system boundary covers the entire life cycle from well-to-wheel (WTW) including oil palm plantation, crude palm oil extraction, biofuel production, logistics and distributions, and lastly the consumption of fuels. Functional unit of this study is 1 kg of fuel. The results indicate that the energy consumption of biofuel pathways is higher than conventional diesel. The biofuel production stage (transesterification and hydro-treating process) and palm oil extraction stage are the major contributors of energy use for both biodiesel and BHD. Net energy ratio (NER) of 5% biodiesel blend (B5), 5% BHD blend (BHD5) and diesel are 4.79, 5.34 and 5.38 respectively. GHG emissions are mainly from oil palm plantation stage and biofuel production stage. Compared to the conventional diesel, biodiesel and BHD are significant lower in GHG emissions. Between biodiesel and BHD, the energy ratio and GHG emissions of BHD are better than those of biodiesel. It is recommended that introducing a good management in cultivation as well as developing new technology for industrial processing will give an opportunity to improve the energy efficiency of biodiesel and BHD comparable to conventional diesel. Keywords: Biodiesel, Bio-hydrogenated diesel, Palm Oil, LCA, Greenhouse Gas, Net Energy Ratio

1. Introduction
Thailand has restricted natural resources of crude oil, natural gas and coal. We have seriously dependent on imported petroleum to satisfy the energy requirements of the country [1]. The concern about petroleum supplies and high energy prices as well as the environmental issues especially greenhouse gas effect, is the motivation of emerging transportation biofuels. Conventional biodiesel, produced from seed oils via the transesterification process, is one of the promising alternative fuels for transportation in Thailand because of its potential environmental benefits and desirable qualities comparing to diesel, such as high cetane. However, there are other issues associated with its use such as poor stability and high solvency, leading to filter plugging problems. Lately, bio-hydrogenated diesel (BHD), produced from new process technologies based on hydro-treating process converting seed oils to diesel fuel, has been emerged.

BHD has become more attractive as alternative fuel because of its similarity to diesel. BHD is synthetic fuel that has a similar chemical composition and similar chemical-physical properties to petroleum diesel [2]. BHD has high quality cetane component (CN>80), which means higher engine efficiency. Moreover, BHD is a hydrocarbon mixture, not an oxygenated organic compound. Table 1 compares the properties of BHD with those of mineral ultra low sulfur diesel (ULSD) and conventional biodiesel.

Energy and Greenhouse Gas Evaluation of Biodiesel and Bio-hydrogenated Diesel from Palm Oil in a Life Cycle Perspective Table 1 Bio-hydrogenated diesel properties versus mineral ultra low sulfur diesel (ULSD) and conventional biodiesel [2] Properties Oxygen content (%) Specific gravity Sulfur content (ppm) Heating value (MJ/kg) Cloud point (C) Distillation range (C) Polyaromatics (wt%) NOx emission (wt%) Cetane number Stability ULSD 0 0.84 <10 43 0 200-360 11 Baseline 51 Baseline Biodiesel 11 0.88 <1 38 -5 to 15 340-370 0 +10% 50-65 Poor BHD 0 0.78 <1 44 -20 to 20 200-320 0 -10% 70-90 Baseline Figure 1 System boundary of the study

2.3 Life cycle inventory

In Thailand, where a large quantity of palm oil production is found, a suitable raw material for biodiesel and BHD is palm oil. This study is therefore focused on evaluation of energy consumption and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of biodiesel and BHD from palm oil comparing to conventional diesel as transportation fuels in Thailand using life cycle technique. The result will support the Thai government on biofuel strategy as well as the opportunity to improve the energy efficiency and environmental performance of biodiesel and BHD.

2.3.1Biodiesel
Life cycle of biodiesel include palm oil plantation, palm oil extraction, and transesterification into biodiesel (Fig. 2). Mostly oil palm plantation is in the southern part of Thailand. Inventory data of oil palm cultivations were reviewed based on an average data which collected from Krabi, Chumporn, and Suratthani province [5, 6]. Oil palm trees usually harvest 23 times a month and they are harvested only by manual labor; therefore, there is no fossil energy use for harvesting. Information of palm oil extraction was gathered from crude palm oil (CPO) mills in the southern part of the country [7]. Oil is mainly extracted from the mesocarp of the fruit while oil extracted from palm kernel (PKO) is considered to be a co-product. The CPO mills normally used the palm fiber to produce steam and electricity for their processes.

2. Material and Method

The methodology performed in this study is based on Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) concept followed the ISO standard 14040 14044 which composes of four steps:Goal and scope definition, Inventory analysis,Impact assessment, and Interpretation [3, 4].

2.1 Goal and scope definition

The goal of this study is to assess the energy consumption and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of biodiesel and BHD from palm oil as transportation fuels in Thailand comparing to convention diesel. The scope starts from palm oil plantation stage through the combustion of biofuels and diesel in use stage. Energy consumption is investigated from the sum of energy used in every stage in fuel production. GHG emission is also calculated from input and output data in each stage from well to wheel. Functional unit chosen is 1 kilogram of liquid fuel.

2.2 System boundary

The system boundary of this study considers the whole life cycle of fuels, which has divided into two partsfuel cycle or called well-to-tank (WTT), and the vehicle operation or called tank-to-wheel (TTW). WTT part includes two main steps, the fuel production phase and the logistics and distribution phase. TTW step consists of the combustion from the usage of the finished product. The energy use, material use, and emissions during all steps of the life cycle are included as shown in Fig. 1.

Figure 2 Schematic of biodiesel production

The study was designed to collect the life cycle inventory of palm stearin which is one of the feedstock for biodiesel plant. The data of palm stearin were obtained from the palm olein factory. In biodiesel production, transesterification process is use for converting palm oil to biodiesel. In this process, methanol is reacted with the triglycerides in crude palm oil and palm stearin to

August 2012, Volume 3, No.4

239

International Journal of Chemical and Environmental Engineering

Energy and Greenhouse Gas Evaluation of Biodiesel and Bio-hydrogenated Diesel from Palm Oil in a Life Cycle Perspective

produce a methyl ester (biodiesel) and glycerol. Inventory data for the biodiesel production from oil palm showed in Table 2 was collected from four selected commercial biodiesel plants in Thailand. The transportation included in the life cycle of biodiesel production stage is comprised of fresh fruit bunches (FFB) transportation from farm to CPO mills, CPO transportation from CPO mills to biodiesel plants, and palm stearin transportation from palm olein refinery to biodiesel plants. Fuel consumption data were collected for different transportation modes by estimation and calculations. The summary data of transportation stage are showed in Table 3.

2.3.3Diesel
Life cycle of diesel consisted of crude oil extraction, transport of crude oil to the port of Thailand and refinery plants, and crude oil refinery. The life cycle inventory of crude oil extraction stage was performed by collecting data from the EcoInvent database in SimaPro7.1 software . The data of crude oil extraction was selected based on the Middle East region. The life cycle inventory of crude oil refinery stage was obtained from the National LCI database of Thailand [10] which collected from local oil refineries with a combined capacity of at least 50% of the total refining capacity in Thailand.

2.3.2 Bio-hydrogenated diesel (BHD)

Life cycle of BHD includes palm oil plantation, palm oil extraction, and BHD production (pretreatment and hydrotreating process) showed in Fig. 3. The life cycle inventory of palm oil plantation and palm oil extraction stage for BHD production are originated from the same data sources of biodiesel production as mentioned above. For BHD production stage, the life cycle data werederived from the model developed by the Neste Oil Corporation of Finland [8, 9], including two main processes- pretreatment and hydro-treating process. Simplified flow chart of BHD process is shown in Fig. 4. In pretreatment process, inputs are CPO, H3PO4, and NaOH andoutput are pretreated oil and sludge. In hydrotreating process, input streams are treated-palm oil and hydrogen and outputs are BHD, fuel gas, and biogasoline.
Table 2 Life cycle inventory of the biodiesel production Input inventory Raw material: Crude palm oil Tap water Energy: Steam Electricity Chemical: Methanol KOH Output inventory Product Biodiesel Co-product: Glycerol Unit kg kg kg kWh kg kg Unit kg kg Amount 1.220 0.393 0.293 0.400 0.220 0.002 Amount 1.000 0.280

2.3.4Logistics and distribution

Logistics and distribution stage in this study consists of transportation of fuel from refineries or biodiesel plants to blending terminals, blending process at oil terminal, and distribution of finished products to sub-terminals and service stations as illustrated in Fig. 5. The life cycle inventory data of the blending terminal were collected from five main terminals of PTT Public Co., Ltd. The input and output data are calculated based on weighted average data of selected terminals. Air emission data of this stage were included in the distribution stage. In the service station stage, the data collection was emphasized on the operation of refueling station in seven premium grade service stations of PTT Public Co., Ltd. Life cycle data at blending terminal and service station for BHD, which have not been commercial, were estimated based on the biodiesel facilities.

Table 3Life cycle inventoryof the transportation stage in the biodiesel production system
Material From FFB CPO Palm stearin
a

Place To CPO mills Biodiesel plants Biodiesel plants

Mode Truck Trailer Trailer

Loading capacity (ton) 16 40 32

Distancea (km) 77 758 230

Farm CPO mills Palm olein mill

oneway trip
Figure 3 Schematic of BHD production

August 2012, Volume 3, No.4

240

International Journal of Chemical and Environmental Engineering

Energy and Greenhouse Gas Evaluation of Biodiesel and Bio-hydrogenated Diesel from Palm Oil in a Life Cycle Perspective

Crude Plant Oil

H3PO4

Pretreatment

Sludge

Steam

Nat.gas

NaOH Nat.gas Power

Nat.gas CHP-plant Power

Power Pure Oil Steam

Nitrogen Nat.gas Steam reformer Hydrogen Fuel gas

Steam Nat.gas Power

Catalyst Nat.gas Boiler Steam

Hydrotreating

Biogasoline

Fuel

Naphtha

NExBTL (Renewable diesel)

Product

Process

Credits

Figure 4 Simplified schematic flow chart of BHD process [6]

Table 4Inventory of logistics and distribution

Material/ Fuel Diesel Diesel Biodiesel Finished fuel Finished fuel Finished fuel Type of vehicle Freight ship Pipeline Trailer Trailer Trailer
a

Place From Oil refinery (Rayong) Oil refinery (Chonburi) Biofuel plants Blending terminals Blending terminals Subterminal To Blending terminal Blendind terminal Blending terminals Sub-terminal Service station Service station

No.

1 2 3 4

Figure 5 Diagram of logistics and distribution stage

In the distribution stage, the scope of the study was aimed for fuel transportation in six routes presented in Table 4. Fuel consumption in the operating of transport vehicles (such as truck, train, and barge) was collected by using questionnaire and literature reviews [11, 12, 13]. Emissions from vehicle operation in the fuel transport are calculated based on the 2006 IPCC Guidelines for National Greenhouse Gas Inventories [14] and emissions from fuel loading, unloading, and refueling are calculated based on EPA method [15].

5 6
a

Trailera

Transport by trailer is round trip.

3. Results and discussion 3.1 Energy consumption assessment

The life cycle energy is the summation of the energy use in each process through the whole life cycle of the fuel production. In order to assess how much energy produced for each unit of fossil fuel and energy consumed within the system, net energy ratio (NER) was studied. NER refers to the ratio between the amount of energy contained in the studied fuel or energy content in term of lower heating value (LHV) of the fuel [16] and the amount of total energy used in a whole life cycle of fuel production. The NER value relates to energy efficiency which means that a high NER value refers to high energy efficiency. The NER can be calculated by,

2.3.5Combustion
In combustion or fuel usage stage, inventory data were collected from exhaust emission from the tailed pipe vehicles which tested by PTT Public Co., Ltd. The finished products that used for transportation sector in this study are 5% biodiesel blend (B5), 5% BHD blend (BHD5) and diesel.
August 2012, Volume 3, No.4

241

International Journal of Chemical and Environmental Engineering

Loading capacity (ton) 5,000 40 40 20 20

Energy and Greenhouse Gas Evaluation of Biodiesel and Bio-hydrogenated Diesel from Palm Oil in a Life Cycle Perspective

NER

Energy output Energy input

(1)

3.2 Greenhouse gas emission assessment

Greenhouse gas (GHG) emission of fuel production phase is shown in Fig. 7. The result shows that GHG emission from biodiesel and BHD production phase is 1.45 kg CO2eq/kg and 1.64 kg CO2eq/kg, respectively. The emission mainly distributes from oil palm plantation which is required chemical or fertilizer for palm tree growing. GHG emission from palm oil extraction stage can be decreased by utilization of CH4 emission from palm oil mill effluent treatment to produce electricity exporting to the power grid. GHG emission of diesel is 0.47 kg CO2eq/kg. Considering only fuel production phase, conventional diesel generates lower GHG emission than biofuels do. GHG emission from the whole life cycle of the studied fuels is presented in Fig. 8. Total GHG emission of diesel, B5, and BHD5 is 3.61, 3.55, and 3.46 kg CO 2eq/kg, respectively. For GHG issue, it can be seen that biofuels have an advantage over diesel in use phase or TTW phase.

The detail of total energy consumption in the fuel production phase is shown in Fig. 6. The total energy use of the fuel production phase for biodiesel is 26.11 MJ per kg. It found that the energy used in biodiesel production stage is highest which is mainly from methanol, steam, and electricity usage, respectively. For BHD, the total energy consumption of the fuel production phase is 20.95 MJ/kg. The energy used in BHD production stage is highest, about 31.03% of which mainly comes from hydrogen and steam generation. The second is the crude palm oil extraction stage (30.80%). The total energy consumption for diesel production is 8.15 MJ/kg which mainly contributes to oil refinery stage (57.19%).Life cycle energy of selected finish products, B5, BHD5, and diesel, are presented in Table 5. It has been found that NER of B5, BHD5, and diesel is 4.79, 5.34 and 5.38 respectively. Diesel, convention fuel,representsthehighestNERwhich means that diesel hasthe most energy efficiency than biodiesel and BHD.However, BHD5 tends to have the energy efficiencyhigher than B5 and not much lower than diesel.

4. Conclusion
The results from this study reveal that: The total energy consumptionof biodiesel and BHD pathways is higher than diesel. The main processes of energy consumption for both biodiesel and BHD are biofuel production stage and palm oil extraction stage. Biodiesel and BHD are lower in life cycle GHG emissions comparing to diesel. The study shows that BHD is better than biodiesel both the life cycle energy and GHG emission. There are opportunities to improve the energy efficiency of biodiesel and BHD comparable to diesel by developing technology for biodiesel and palm oil processes and applying a good management in oil palm plantation.

Figure 6 Energy consumption of fuel production phase Table 5 Life cycle energy consumption of B5, BHD, and diesel Energy used (MJ/kg fuel) diesel B5 BHD5 Crude oil extraction 2.99 2.85 2.86 Diesel Oil refinery 4.00 3.81 3.82 Transportation 0.43 0.41 0.41 Plantation 0.22 0.25 Extraction 0.41 0.29 Biodiesel/ BHD Biofuel production 0.57 0.29 Transportation 0.18 0.11 Terminal 0.01 0.02 0.03 Logistics and Service station 0.12 0.09 0.06 a distribution Distribution 0.60 0.56 0.10 Total energy used (MJ/kg fuel) 8.15 9.12 8.21 Energy output (MJ/kg fuel) 43.83 43.63 43.84 NER (MJfuel/MJused) 5.38 4.79 5.34 a Energy used in logistics and distribution phase of BHD5 estimated based on B5 Stage

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
The authors would like to thanks PTT Public Co., Ltd. for data and financial support. Special thanks for National Metal and Materials Technology Center for their collaboration with this study.

Figure 7 GHG emission of fuel production phase

August 2012, Volume 3, No.4

242

International Journal of Chemical and Environmental Engineering

Energy and Greenhouse Gas Evaluation of Biodiesel and Bio-hydrogenated Diesel from Palm Oil in a Life Cycle Perspective [6] Pleanjai S, et al. (2006), Greenhouse Gas Emission from Production and Use of Waste Palm Oil Methyl Ester, International Conference on Green and Sustainable Innovation 2006. Chavalparit O. (2006), Clean Technology for the Crude Palm Oil Industry in Thailand, PhD Thesis, Wageningen University. Reinhardt, G., Gartner S.O., Helms H., and Rettenmaier N. (2006), Final Report- An Assessment of Energy and Greenhouse Gases of NExBTL, IFEU-Institute for Energy and Environmental Research, Finland. Hodge, C. (2006). Neste Oil Corporation & NExBTL Renewable Diesel, California energy Commission Workshop on Bioenergy, 2006.

[7] [8]

[9]

[10] National Metal and Materials Technology Center (2009), National Life cycle Inventory Database Project,supported by National Science and Technology Development Agency, and Thai Industrial Standardization Institute. Figure 8 Total GHG emission of fuels [11] The Marine Department (2009), Marine transportation, available online: http://www.md.go.th/ [12] The State Railway of Thailand (2009), Freight type, available online: http://www.railway.co.th/ticket/CargoBogie.asp [13] Thai Petroleum Pipeline Co., Ltd. (2009), Comparison of the energy utilization of petroleum transportation, available online: http://www.thappline.co.th [14] The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (2009), Guidelines for National Green house Gas Inventories: Refe rence Manual 2006, available online:http://www.ipccnggip.iges.or.jp/public/2006gl/index.html [15] US EPA (2009),Compilation of Air Pollutant Emission Factors, Volume 1: Stationary Point and Area Sources, AP 42, 5thEdition,available online:http://www.epa.gov/ttn/chief/ap42/index.html [16] Ministry of Energy (2009),Energy content, available online:http://www.dede.go.th/dede/index.php?id=172

REFERENCES
[1] [2] Manjula Siriwardhana (2009), Bio-diesel: Initiatives, potential and prospects in Thailand: A review, Energy Policy, 37, pp. 554559. Baldiraghi, F., Stanislao, D.M., Faraci, G., Perego, C., Marker, T., Gosling, C., Kokayeff, P., Kalnes, T. and Marinangeli, R. (2009), Sustainable Industrial Chemistry, Wiley, New York, pp.427 -437. ISO 14040 (2006), Environmental management Life cycle assessment Principles and framework, International Organization for Standardization (ISO), Geneva. ISO 14044 (2006), Environmental management Life cycle assessment Require-ments and guidelines, International Organization for Standardization (ISO), Geneva. Pleanjai S., Gheewala S. H., and Garivait S. (2004), Environmental Evaluation of Biodiesel Production from Palm Oil in a Life Cycle Perspective, The Joint International Conference on Sustainable Energy and Environment (SEE), 1-3 December 2004, Hua Hin, Thailand.

[3]

[4]

[5]

August 2012, Volume 3, No.4

243

International Journal of Chemical and Environmental Engineering