Hyundai Oilbank will have the nation’s first refinery plant producing eco-friendly naphtha by inputting plastic waste pyrolysis oil into the process of refining crude oil. The refinery plans to build a circular economy by utilizing plastic waste repeatedly.
Hyundai Oilbank said the company will conduct research to verify the technology by inputting 100 tons of pyrolysis oil into the process of refining crude oil.
The pyrolysis oil is a kind of recycled oil made by decomposing plastic waste with high heat. The refinery plans to expand input amounts of pyrolysis oil after securing safety on the process.
The naphtha produced with pyrolysis oil will be supplied to neighborhood petrochemical companies, which will use it to produce plastic products.
Hyundai Oilbank introduced the pyrolysis oil to fix an issue of rising plastic waste amounts. China, the world’s largest waste importer, announced a plan to ban the import of all solid wastes.
Basel Convention has strengthened regulations on plastic. It means that countries producing plastic waste should treat them on their own.
Hyundai Oilbank is considering building a new plastic waste pyrolysis oil plant using the nation’s sole Delayed Coking Unit (DCU). The refinery is now seeking certification for pyrolysis oil.
Hyundai Oilbank plans to obtain a certification on its eco-friendliness from an international certification institution and sell the naphtha produced from the pyrolysis oil as “green naphtha.”
Hyundai Oilbank said the project has been made possible under the government’s regulatory sand-box program of relaxed regulations in certain areas.
Under current law, Hyundai Oilbank, a refinery, is banned from using the pyrolysis oil from plastic waste.
Hyundai Oilbank submitted a request for the regulatory sand-box program to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE) and Korea Institute for Advancement Technology (KIAT) early this year and obtained a go-ahead on verification of the process.
Hyundai Oilbank Vice Chairman Kang Dal-ho said, “Introducing pyrolysis oil is part of ESG management Hyundai Oilbank is implementing, and it will contribute to solving an issue of reducing greenhouse gas emissions and plastic waste in Korea.”
A night view of Hyundai Oilbank’s Daesan Plant in Seosan, Chungcheongnam-do. (Photos: Hyundai Oilbank)
Hyundai Oilbank Teams Up with Haldor Topsoe to Develope E-Fuels
Hyundai Oilbank will join forces with Haldor Topsoe, a Danish hydrogen energy company, to develop eco-friendly electrofuels, or e-fuels.
Hyundai Oilbank said on Nov. 4 the company struck an MOU with the Danish company, which specializes in carbon reduction technologies.
Both sides agreed to collaborate in R&D in diverse eco-friendly sectors such as e-fuels, biofuels, and waste plastic-to-resources.
Among those on hand at the signing ceremony were Hyundai Oilbank Vice Chairman & CEO Kang Dal-ho and Haldor Topsoe President Roeland Baan.
E-fuels, also known as synthetic fuels, are produced by mixing hydrogen with carbon dioxide. E-fuels are emerging as next-generation fuels, as they have properties similar to those of gasoline and diesel.
Like petroleum, e-fuels emit carbon dioxide in the course of combustion, and carbon can be captured and reutilized, so e-fuels are drawing attention as next-generation eco-friendly fuels.
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