Wings Herald

January 23, 2019

By Svilen Petrov

The Ministry of Defense of the Netherlands has announced plans to gradually transfer all the country’s military aviation on biofuel. As a first step, the military began to purchase biofuels for the air base in Leeuwarden, which will fuel all F-16 Fighting Falcon fighters.

Military aviation is the largest consumer of fuel in the world. It is believed that the transfer of fighters to biofuels will significantly reduce emissions of carbon dioxide, one of the main factors of global warming. In particular, the United States is engaged in a gradual transfer of all ships and military aircraft to biofuel.

According to the Netherlands Ministry of Defense, in the middle of January 2019, 400,000 liters of biofuel produced by the American company World Energy from kitchen fats were delivered to the air base in Leeuwarden. Currently, all the F-16 fighters assigned to the airbase fly on a fuel mixture of 5% of biofuels and 95 percent of conventional jet fuel.

The aircraft perform test flights on the basis of which the proportion of biofuels in the mixture will increase. According to the plan of the Dutch military department, by 2030, all military aircraft of the country will fly on a fuel mixture with a 20% addition of biofuels, and by 2050 – with a 70% content of alternative fuel.

Currently, the Netherlands Air Force has 92 aircraft, including 68 F-16AM / BM fighter jets, and 77 helicopters.

The decision to transfer all airbase fighters to a mixture of hydrocarbon and biofuels was taken on the basis of tests conducted in 2018. Then one of the F-16 airbase in Leeuwarden for two weeks was flying in a mixture with a 5% content of biofuels.

Read the original article: The Netherlands Will Transfer All Military Aviation to Biofuel

Energy.AgWired

January 21, 2019

By Cindy Zimmerman

Weekly U.S. ethanol production recovered after the holidays to more like what we were seeing throughout 2018.

According to Energy Information Administration data analyzed by the Renewable Fuels Association, ethanol production for the week ending January 11 increased over five percent to the largest volume in six weeks at an average of 1.051 million barrels per day (b/d)—or 44.14 million gallons daily. The four-week average for ethanol production rose fractionally at 1.026 million b/d for an annualized rate of 15.73 billion gallons but was still 1.8% lower than the level a year ago.

There were zero imports recorded for the ninth week in a row. (Weekly export data for ethanol is not reported simultaneously; the latest export data is as of October 2018.)

Average weekly gasoline supplied to the market pulled back 1.9% at 8.565 million b/d (359.7 million gallons per day), equivalent to 131.30 billion gallons annualized and the lowest level since February 2017. Refiner/blender input of ethanol rebounded 5.8% (up 47,000 b/d) at 862,000 b/d—equivalent to 13.21 billion gallons annualized.

Given the lackluster volume of gasoline supplied to the market, daily ethanol production increased to a 58-week high of 12.27% of daily gasoline supplied.

Read the original article: Ethanol Production Back Up

Ethanol Producer Magazine

January 15, 2019

By Erin Voegele

The U.S. Energy Information Administration has released the January edition of its Short-Term Energy Outlook, maintaining its December forecast for 2019 ethanol production levels and offering its first short-term forecast for 2020 production. 

The EIA currently predicts that ethanol production will average approximately 1.04 million barrels per day in 2019 and 2020, down from 1.05 million barrels per day in 2018. The EIA cites low ethanol producer margins and limited domestic growth potential as factors expected to limit ethanol production over the next two years.

On a quarterly basis, production is expected to average 1.04 million barrels per day during the first quarter of this year, increase to 1.05 million barrels per day during the second quarter, and return to 1.04 million barrels per day during the third and fourth quarters. In 2020, production is currently expected to average 1.04 million barrels per day during the first quarter of the year, increase to 1.05 million barrels per day during the second and third quarters, and return to 1.04 million barrels per day during the final quarter of the year.

Ethanol consumption for 2019 and 2020 is expected to average approximately 950,000 barrels per day, up from 940,000 barrels per day in 2018. According to the EIA, the increase is expected to be driven by increasing motor gasoline consumption. The agency said the forecast levels of consumption will result in the ethanol share of the total gasoline pool increasing from 10.1 percent in 2018 to 10.2 percent in 2020. “This stable ethanol share assumes growth in high-level ethanol blends is limited by recently waived volumes of renewable fuel required under the [Renewable Fuel Standard] by way of numerous small refinery exemptions, depressing D6 renewable identification number (RIN) prices and limiting the demand for higher levels of ethanol blending beyond 10 percent of gasoline (i.e., E10),” said the EIA in the STEO.

Biodiesel production is expected to average 144,000 barrels per day in 2019 and 158,000 barrels per day in 2020, up from 123,000 barrels per day in 2018. The EIA said duties imposed on foreign biodiesel imports from Argentina and Indonesia in late 2017 caused net imports of biomass-based diesel to fall from 32,000 barrels per day in 2017 to 16,000 barrels per day in 2018. Net imports are expected to remain near the 2018 level in 2019 and 2020.

The EIA’s most recent weekly data shows ethanol production fell to an average of 1 million barrels per day during the week ending Jan. 4, down from 1.011 million barrels per day the previous week.

The agency’s most recent monthly data shows the U.S. imported 464,000 barrels of ethanol in October, all from Brazil. During the same month, the U.S. exported 4.178 million barrels of ethanol, primarily to Brazil, Canada and India.

Read the original article: EIA: Ethanol Production to Remain Relatively Flat in 2019, 2020

Ethanol Producer Magazine

January 18, 2018

By Evan Almberg

The thermal oxidizer (TO) heat recovery steam generator (HRSG) is a staple system for many ethanol plants built during the mid-2000s construction boom. As plants near the 10- to 15-year operating mark, performance and efficiency might be the deciding factor between repairing or replacing equipment. Routinely inspecting and quantifying performance can improve the reliability and operation of an existing HRSG, extending the life of the system.

Inspection Priorities
Assessing the condition of the HRSG is a critical first step in determining its overall health. Having a comprehensive water- and gas-side inspection helps establish a baseline condition of the HRSG that can be compared to future inspection findings. Comparing can be qualitative and simple, “The tubes appear more oxidized than last year;” or more quantitative and complex, “The material thinning in this location is 1/16 of an inch and last year it was at 1/32 of an inch.”

A variety of locations should be observed on the water and gas side. Knowing at-risk areas can help determine where to look and when. Inspection areas for a typical TO/HRSG configuration include the HRSG inlet from the TO, the evaporator section of the HRSG, steam drum connections and internals and the packaged economizer. Important items and components to observe in these locations are: liner and baffle condition; tube-to-header connections/welds; external tube fouling, corrosion and oxidation; internal tube deposits or material loss; steam separation equipment and configuration; and overall as-built design (pipe size, configuration, material).

Common Component Issues
Temperature is a key factor in how efficiently the HRSG components operate. In HRSGs that are fired harder (e.g., a TO burner that is pushed to its maximum firing rating), metal components often exceed the recommended design limit temperature. Liners, baffles and tubes are all susceptible to overheat.

Overheated liners might oxidize, warp or break off studs when thermal expansion causes them to distort. As the liner sheets distort and expose insulation, the high temperature turbulent gas flow can wear away the insulation and cause hot spots on the HRSG.

Baffles become brittle and degrade over time as they overheat, eventually allowing the flue gas flow to bypass the tube bank, resulting in lower HRSG performance. In the case of bypass along the sidewalls of the evaporator, the increased flow along the panel end tubes will disproportionately cause tubes to overperform and generate more steam than the tubes toward the center of the panels.

The evaporator tubes are less susceptible to overheat damage, but the fin material will begin to oxidize and break off until the fin tip temperature is at the material threshold. While this is not a reliability concern, it can lower the performance of the evaporator. Tube leaks or failures often occur at the tube-to-header connection. This can be caused by high stress at the weld joint, often related to the geometry of the tube-to-header connection, but sometimes because of flow conditions on the water or gas side. Performing a gas-side inspection at the beginning of a shutdown can allow more time for tube leaks to be identified and repaired. Depending on the location within the bundle, this could be a time-consuming process. When tube failures occur, a root cause failure analysis (RCFA) should be performed to determine the failure mechanism, in addition to implementing a preventative operation or maintenance procedure to mitigate future failures. Don’t just weld the crack; involve someone who can review the location, failure and maintenance history.

Fouling is also a performance concern. As fouling buildup occurs, the tube surfaces become insulated from the gas flow, which decreases steam generation, increases backpressure and reduces thermal performance. In a TO/HRSG system behind a DDG dryer, acid dew point (sulfur dew point) corrosion might be a bigger issue than just tube-side cleaning during a shutdown. Exhaust flow with sulfur content can dramatically increase the dew point corrosion from condensation on the tubes, specifically in the cookwater economizer and preheater sections of the HRSG. This can be mitigated by process changes to the feedwater temperature or by upgrading to a corrosive-resistant tube material.

Thermal Performance
Getting the most from the HRSG can be a driving factor for plants that need process steam. HRSG thermal performance is affected by both gas- and water-side parameters, as well as the mechanical condition of the HRSG. Degradation and fouling reduce the steam generation rate, whereas upstream process changes—such as dryer optimization or harder firing of the TO burner—can cause the HRSG to exceed rated boiler capacity.

Performance can be determined through a thermal model of the HRSG by using mechanical and process data to identify areas of under and overperformance. A thermal model can be used to compare the as-is performance to the original equipment manufacturer’s predicted values, as well as to quantify the effects of degradation and changes to process operating conditions.

Quantifying Underperformance
Underperformance is often a result of gas-side fouling, flue gas bypass around heat transfer surfaces, as well as degradation and typical wear and tear of the HRSG. Gas-side fouling is a common issue, particularly in process plant conditions, that reduces the heat absorption effectiveness. Fouling can depend on both the flue gas composition and the process conditions of the HRSG.

Gas-side cleaning, such as dry ice blasting, is often performed during an annual shutdown. But it might not be the best approach. A thermal model and a performance degradation tracking procedure can help determine when cleaning is necessary or economically advantageous to gain back the heat absorption of the HRSG. If cleaning is warranted, it’s important to clean all the way down to surfaces deep into the tube bank. A thermal model can show before and after.

Predicting Upgrade Performance
An overperforming HRSG can impact the HRSG and downstream equipment such as a letdown turbine, and raise safety concerns. Overperformance can occur because of a process change on upstream equipment or an upgrade of HRSG components themselves. Examples of this include increasing the feedwater temperature to prevent preheater dew point corrosion or max firing the TO burner to increase steam generation.

Before a change is made, a thermal performance assessment of the HRSG system should be conducted to evaluate what the possible effects could be. Key checkpoint areas should include: tube metal and nonpressure part temperatures; design pressures and safety valve capacity; material selection and operating environment; changes in gas-side backpressure; steam separator capacity; and boiler feed pump capacity.

Upon evaluation of the upgrade performance, codes often allow rerating the HRSG to the higher steam generation rate, and in some cases, higher pressures or temperatures, although the latter two require extensive pressure part evaluation. Rerating can involve new nameplate documenting, the new limits to the steam flow, plus modifications to satisfy standards of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers and National Board Inspection Code.

Whether overperforming or underperforming, the HRSG affects many parts of the plant, and vice versa. Inspect and quantify HRSG performance to keep everything running smoothly.

Read the original article: HRSG Health: Efficiency and Performance

Reuters

January 16, 2019

By Humeyra Pamuk and Valerie Volcovici

A U.S. Environmental Protection Agency rule to allow sales of higher-ethanol blends of gasoline year-round is being delayed by a partial government shutdown, acting Administrator Andrew Wheeler said on Wednesday.

The rule, a key campaign promise by President Donald Trump to farmers, an important constituency, was announced in October and would aim to expand the market for corn-based ethanol.

Speaking at his Senate confirmation hearing, Wheeler, Trump’s nominee to head the agency on a permanent basis, said the EPA was unable to work on the rule at the moment because of the shutdown.

“Originally we were planning on issuing the rule in February ... We haven’t been shut down as long as the other departments but we may be slightly delayed at this point,” Wheeler said.

A partial government shutdown began on Dec. 22 due to Trump’s insistence on more than $5 billion to pay for a wall along the U.S. border with Mexico. Currently there is little sign of a breakthrough.

Wheeler said the rule would still be ready for the 2019 driving season which begins in June. Following the official release of the proposed rule, the EPA will be required to get public comment.

Known as E15, the rule could be politically helpful to Republican candidates in the Midwest, which is saddled with a tough farm economy and suffering from the U.S.-China tariff-laden trade war.

Last October, Trump deliver a long-sought political victory to the Farm Belt but angered oil refiners. He announced the lifting of a ban on summer sales of gasoline blended with 15 percent ethanol.

Read the original article: EPA's Wheeler Says Shutdown is Delaying New Ethanol Gasoline Rule