Co-processing of renewable and fossil fuel feedstocks in conventional refinery units

The simulation model of Fluid Catalytic Cracking (FCC) unit and many other refinery processes maximize the yields of fuels such as gasoline, diesel, propylene and minimize the yields of CO₂. While the increased yields of gasoline, diesel and propylene add to the profitability of the refinery and meet the global demands for energy, CO₂ emission constitute global warming. As a result of environmental policies which seeks to raise the need for renewables participation in the transportation sector, biomass-derived fuels are becoming an attractive alternative to replace, totally or partially, fossil ones. However, the sustainability concerns have to do with capital expenditures and operating expenses required if high-quality fuels are required as the final product.

The aim of the PhD is to co-process renewable and fossil fuel feedstocks in traditional refinery units like the FCC and hydrotreating. Co-processing of biomass-derived feedstocks in oil refineries is a good solution and can create the sustainable pathway for biofuels to be introduced in the market, since it reduces environmental impacts from fossil fuels, decreases the oil dependency of countries and, the most important one, takes advantage of existing conventional refinery unit facilities avoiding the erection of new plants. This work will require some experimental approach for choosing the right catalyst (to be developed if not available) and measuring the conversion from the raw material. The suitability of the fuel produced, and the CO₂ emission test will be conducted, and the data produced will be exploited to improve fundamental understanding that guarantees long-term co-processing of biomass and fossil fuel as feedstock to improve the quality of fuels from the petroleum refineries. gPROMS, Aspen Hysys/Plus, Matlab, Ansys-Fluent and AutoCad are among the many software available for both equation-oriented and sequential-modular approach simulation in this work.

How to apply

Formal applications can be submitted via the University of Bradford web site. Applications should create a new user account, select ‘Full-time PhD Chemical and Process Engineering’ as the course, and then provide the project title on the Research Proposal tab.