Sept. 2, 2010, Des Plaines, IL – UOP’s technology has been selected for use in Rentech
Inc.'s Rialto Renewable Energy Center to convert biomass to transportation
fuels. The renewable energy center, to be built in Rialto, California, will
convert woody biomass into renewable, ultra-clean diesel fuel and renewable
electricity. The new facility will use UOP hydroprocessing technology, which
converts hydrocarbons into clean-fuel products. The center is expected to
produce roughly 640 barrels/day of liquid fuel and 35 MW of base-load
electricity, enough to power approximately 30,000 homes each day.
In August
2009, eight airlines signed a multi-year agreement with Rentech to together
purchase up to 1.5 million gallons/year of diesel from the Rialto Project for
use in ground service equipment at Los Angeles International Airport. The
Rialto Project is scheduled to start up in late 2012.
“The
project, anticipated to be the nation's first commercial biomass gasification
facility for the co-production of renewable synthetic fuels and power, will
serve as a model for next generation clean energy production," says
Timothy DeFoe, project director for the Rialto Renewable Energy Center.
The
Rentech-SilvaGas biomass gasification system will be used to produce synthesis
gas, or syngas, from biomass. The syngas is then converted to ultra-clean
hydrocarbons using Rentech's proprietary Fischer-Tropsch process and catalyst.
The UOP Unionfining and Unicracking processes are used to upgrade the hydrocarbons
to ultra-clean jet and diesel fuel, as well as specialty waxes and chemicals.
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