Commercialisation of Renewable Crude Oil Production
- $4m Funded by ARENA
- $12.29m Total project cost
Summary
Southern Oil Refining Pty Ltd aims to build and operate a demonstration scale hydrothermal liquefaction (HTL) reactor to produce crude oil from biosolids (a by-product of treated wastewater) that will be capable of scaling up to commercial scale. The renewable crude oil will be upgraded to renewable diesel (and potentially jet fuel) using the existing facilities at the Northern Oil Refining facility in Gladstone, Queensland.
How the project works
This renewable crude oil project involves building and operating a one megalitre (ML) per annum demonstration scale HTL reactor and is expected to support the commercial business case to develop large-scale HTL reactors. This is with a view to producing a range of renewable fuel products on a competitive basis to fossil fuels. Read more about bioenergy and energy from waste.
This project consists of:
Learn more
Media Release: Striking Renewable Oil Using Sewage in Gladstone
ARENA announced funding for a pioneering project aiming to turn biosolids from sewage into crude oil.
Area of innovation
The project aims to advance the commercial readiness of the underlying technology and has good potential to create an end product that could be blended and/or directly distributed using existing petroleum infrastructure. It is an innovative design and the successful use of wastewater sludge as a feedstock could solve the disposal problem of biosolids from wastewater treatment. This process could also be replicated on a global scale.
Benefit
The project aims to provide decarbonation in the transportation fuel sector while reducing the cost and environmental impact of waste generated in the municipal wastewater treatment industry.
Collaboration between the crude oil and wastewater industries will help grow the cross-industry nexus needed for the establishment of a new renewable energy in Australia.
