(138c) Production and Upgrading Of Renewable Bio-Crude From Large Scale Algae Ponds

Renewable fuels from algae are moving closer to commercialization as Sapphire Energy showed with their Integrated Algae Bio-Refinery (IABR). The IABR in New Mexico was commissioned in 2012 and is producing algae derived bio crude oil on a continuous basis using Sapphire’s proprietary conversion and extraction process.  This algae bio-crude contains a wide range of hydrocarbons, fatty acids, aromatics, and nitrogen compounds and other heteroatoms. This chemical profile suggests that algal bio-crude can be economically processed by blending with existing refinery streams and co-processing the combined streams as opposed to the more costly development of algal-specific refineries. Different options of co-feeding the algae crude to a refinery can produce a full suite of refinery products from petrochemicals to gasoline, diesel and other refinery products. This study describes the products that can be produced from algae bio-crude and its implementation into existing refining infrastructure.