Eni taps Honeywell for pioneering Venice project

Venice, Italy – Eni will employ the Honeywell UOP/Eni Ecofining process for its innovative project to produce renewable diesel at its Venice refinery.

The Italian energy major is to retrofit existing equipment at its facility, currently being used to produce petroleum-based diesel, to produce renewable diesel.

The project demonstrates the flexibility of the UOP/Eni Ecofining process, according to Jim Rekoske, vice president and general manager of Honeywell’s UOP renewable energy and chemicals business unit.

“Not only does it produce a drop-in fuel replacement for end-users, but refiners can operate the process by simply modifying existing assets that might otherwise go unused,” he explained.

Eni plans to eventually convert its entire Venice refinery into a renewable diesel production facility, in part to meet emissions regulations.

The EUs Renewable Energy Directive mandates that, by 2020, 20% of its countries’ energy must come from renewable sources, and greenhouse gases must be reduced by 20%.

The UOP/Eni Ecofining process produces a renewable diesel fuel which is a drop-in replacement for traditional diesel.

Unlike biodiesel, it is chemically identical to petroleum-based diesel and can be used in any proportion in existing fuel tanks without engine or infrastructure changes.

The renewable diesel is claimed to offer a lifecycle reduction in greenhouse gas emissions of as much as 80% compared with diesel derived from petroleum. The fuel can be used as blending stock for refiners seeking to enhance or expand their diesel offeringsl.

Eni will produce more than 100 million gallons per year of renewable diesel at its Venice facility beginning in 2014. In addition to technology licensing, Honeywell’s UOP and its affiliates will provide basic engineering, specialty equipment and training for the project.

Honeywell’s UOP and Eni jointly developed the UOP/Eni Ecofining process, which uses hydroprocessing technology to convert non-edible natural oils and animal fats to a fully fungible renewable diesel.

The fuel offers improved performance over biodiesel and petroleum-based diesel, including a cetane value – a combustion-quality rating – of 80 compared with a cetane range of 40 to 60 found in diesel at the pump today.