Korea’s second-largest oil refiner, GS Caltex, held a groundbreaking ceremony for its demo plant, located in Yeosu, South Jeolla Province, taking a step closer to producing bio-butanol made with nonedible biomass, the first of its kind in the world, the firm said recently.
The oil refiner expects its latest exclusive technology to greatly cut production costs and reduce greenhouse gases by using waste wood and crop residue.
Bio-butanol can be converted into efficient fuel when mixed with gasoline, because of its high energy density, the company explained.
It can also replace petroleum-based butanol, used in making coatings, glue and so on.
GS Caltex has agreed to invest a total of 50 billion won ($45.5 million) to build the demo plant that covers 15,000 square meters of land, the firm said.
The demo plant is expected to produce 400 tons of bio-butanol yearly, once construction is complete in the second half of 2017, it added. GS Caltex has been focusing on the development of Biobutanol as a new next generation-environmentally friendly fuel oil among its R&D activities at its Technology Institute in the Yeosu Oil Refinery Complex in South Jeolla Province, which was set up to improve the quality of its oil products so they are more competitive in the market.
Biobutanol, which is set to replace gasoline as a clean fuel, has a higher energy density than Bioethanol and its energy loss rate is lower when it is mixed with gasoline for use as a fuel. It has the added advantage that it can be used without changing the engines of gasoline-burning vehicles as its solution rate in water and corrosiveness is low.
The problem is that the price of the corns and cassabas needed to make bioethanol is relatively high, along with faults in the technologies to produce the product. In fact, most attempts have failed in China to come up with bioethanol that meets the standard quality so far this year.
When the project grows big enough to export technologies and plant designs, the small companies will have a chance to work in the global arena and grow together with GS Caltex. The oil refinery has been working to commercialize Biobutanol production technologies with a plan to kick off construction of a demonstration plant in the first half of next year. Officials said they have been seeking to sign a long-term contract to get a stable supply of corn and casaba, the raw materials needed to produce the new fuel, when the project reaches a stage where it can produce the new fuel oil.
The oil company has also been doing all it can to keep its oil refining facilities and installations safe as ordered by Vice Chairman Hur Jin-soo. In his speech on the oil refiner’s anniversary in May, he called for “Safety First Leadership” to take an honest and self-imposed safety culture at the oil refinery so nothing will hurt its safety measures at all places in the oil refinery complex.
In order to see that safety is the foremost concern at the oil refinery, the vice chairman created a new post of Chief Safety Officer in charge of safety at all installations at the refinery. He will manage a safety task force.
The Safety Task Force, consisting of some 90 members, inspects fire and other safety measures of dangerous areas in the complex, in particular, the oil refining and heavy oil cracking towers.
Most of the workers are veterans in their respective areas of focus, some having worked for the refinery for more than 20 years. They have made their own recommendations to improve oil refining facilities technologically. The Yeosu Oil Refinery Complex runs an emergency team to be ready for all kinds of disasters, including environmental, natural disasters and hostile attacks on the refinery and related facilities.
GS Caltex, concerned with safety of its cooperative firms, holds a meeting on safety with their representatives once a month to make sure efforts are carried out to ensure safety is prioritized.
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