Diamond Green Diesel expands capacity with Honeywell technology

Honeywell UOP announced on Nov. 2 that a second Ecofining process unit with a capacity of 30,000 barrels per day will more than double the annual production capacity of Diamond Green Diesel’s renewable diesel plant in Norco, Louisiana.

Diamond Green Diesel is a joint venture of Darling Ingredients and a subsidiary of Valero Energy Corp. The facility was originally established as a 160 MMgy renewable diesel plant and expanded to its current 275 MMgy capacity in 2018. Soon after the first expansion project was completed, Diamond Green Diesel announced plans to further increase capacity at the plant to 675 MMgy. That expansion project is currently underway and on track to be complete in 2021.

Honeywell’s Nov. 2 announcement indicates that the first Ecofining unit was established at the Norco facility in 2013 and expanded several years later. The current expansion to 675 MMgy is being completed with the addition of a second Ecofining process unit. Honeywell said the Ecofining technology is currently employed in four commercial-scale facilities, including two in the U.S. and two in Europe.  

The Ecofining process was jointly developed by UOP and Eni SpA to convert non-edible natural animal fats that offers improved performance over biodiesel and petroleum-based diesel. The resulting fule is chemically identical to petroleum-based diesel and offers up to an 80 percent lifecycle reduction in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.

According to Honeywell, fuel produced by the Ecofining process has a cetane value of 80, compared with a cetane range of 40 to 60 found diesel at the pump today. As a result, it makes an excellent blendstock for cheaper low-cetane diesel to meet transportation standards, and it performs well at cold or warm temperatures.

Honeywell also noted that the Ecofining technology can also produce renewable jet fuel that can be blended seamlessly with petroleum-based jet fuel. When used in up to a 50-pecent blend with petroleum-based jet fuel, Honeywell Green Jet Fuel requires no changes to aircraft technology and meets critical specifications for flight.

Additional information is available on the Honeywell website.