Northville Product Services and Colonial Pipeline B5 Soy Test Data and Report February Soy blended low sulfur diesel

Size: px

Start display at page:

Download "Northville Product Services and Colonial Pipeline B5 Soy Test Data and Report February Soy blended low sulfur diesel"

Kathlyn Bradford
6 years ago
Views:

1 Scope of Work: Bio Diesel Trial NPS Soy blended low sulfur diesel Colonial Pipeline Company (CPL) conducted a test movement of 74 grade (500 ppm highway diesel) blended with 5% biodiesel (soy oil). The primary purpose of the test was to quantify the impact to product quality. Northville Product Services (NPS) and Colonial Pipeline were also interested in determining if the shipment has a negative impact to other products (quantifying potential trail back). Test Protocals: NPS pumped a test batch of 75,000 barrels (bbls) from Kinder Morgan s Pasadena Terminal into Colonial Pipeline s (CPL) 36 distillate line. The B100 was brought into Kinder Morgan via barge through a common system and delivered into an unheated distillate tank. The holding tank had product in it prior to the barge discharging. From the holding tank, product was brought in by pipeline. The tank was equipped with a mixer which was run during the discharge of the barge and the inbound of the pipeline to ensure through mixing of the biodiesel and highway diesel. Upon completion of the inbounds, the tank was sampled at different levels by technicians and checked for proper mixing at an on-site laboratory. NPS implemented no special handling requirements nor were there any challenges with blending the product to meet the CPL quality specifications. However, depending on the pour point of the B100, the temperature of the B100 may create special handling requirements. The product was sampled for Haze, Karl Fischer (moisture content), and ASTM D975 properties at three locations in addition to Houston: 1) Baton Rouge, LA Greensboro, NC, and Linden, NJ. These samples were visually inspected both during collection and after shipment to CPL s on-site lab in Houston. CPL s lab technicians tested the samples using the Karl Fischer (moisture content) then shipped them to an independent laboratory (Inspectorate and SGS) were the samples under went analysis to evaluate ASTM D975 properties. Results: On cycle 441 of Colonial Pipeline, the 75,000 barrel test movement of 5% biodiesel (Soy oil methyl ester) D6751 was lifted from NPS Kinder Morgan s Houston terminal. The test batch was sampled and tested for Haze, Karl Fischer (moisture content), and significant ASTM D975 properties by an independent lab (Inspectorate and SGS) on the samples from Houston, Baton Rouge, Greensboro and Linden. 1 of 10

2 ASTM D975 test results: The test results for ASTM D975 requirements were typically within test methods reproducibility, which indicates that shipment of the 5% blended biodiesel product did not impact the blend s fuel quality. In other words, the product maintained the D975 specification from Houston, TX to Linden, NJ, succeeding in accomplishing the primary goal of this test evaluation. See Table 1 for detailed test results. See Attachment 1 and Attachment 2 for the specifications for the D6751 (Biodiesel) and D975 delivered test fuel products. Table 1: Biodiesel (5%)/Highway Diesel (95%) D975 Test Results Method Test Houston Baton Rouge Greensboro Linden D4052 API Gravity D2622 Sulfur D4176 Haze Rating D4737 Cetane Index D5773 Cloud Point 16 F 13 F 15 F 14 F D5949 Pour Point -5 F -9 F -8 F -6 F D86 End Point D93 Flash Point EN Fatty Acid Methyl Ester (FAME) Octel F21 Pad Rating 2 3B 2B 2B Octel F21 Reflection Pad Rating EN (European Specification) test results: In addition to sampling and testing of the test batch for D975 specifications, the trailing Low Sulfur Diesel batch was also sampled and tested to quantify trail back of the 5% biodiesel blend. The test results can be seen in Table 2. Table 2: EN14078 Test Results EN Fatty Acid Methyl Ester (FAME) EN Fatty Acid Methyl Ester (FAME) EN Fatty Acid Methyl Ester (FAME) EN Fatty Acid Methyl Ester (FAME) EN Fatty Acid Methyl Ester (FAME) Barrels 5,000 10,000 15,000 20,000 Houston Baton Rouge Greensboro Linden of 10

3 The sampling of the trailing low sulfur diesel batch identified some level of trail back. The exact quantification of the trail back is impossible to determine, due to the current inaccuracy of the test methods at very low levels of methyl esters. CPL s past experience with ester-based lubricity additives indicated similar results in the trailing fuel. CPL has determined that methyl ester trail back will require segregation of jet fuel shipments to prevent any amounts of contamination at this time. Batches of B2 or B5 could be segregated and buffered in CPL, a common practice with more conventional products. The adverse effect of this batch approach is it adds costs to the system at multiple points and minimizes shipper and pipeline operating flexibility. Some operational constraints include: pipeline scheduling (having batch sizes ready for cycle delivery), need for more origination and destination tanks which leads to increased working capital, pipeline cuts and interface between batches which could result in losses and the need for additional tanks, the need for break-out tanks in order to keep batches segregated during transmission, and liquidity for trading purposes during the day pumping cycle All these issue, increase the cost of transporting via pipelines. Regardless of the economical impact of batching, pipeline companies such as Colonial will need to identify how far back methyl ester trails in following batches and to what parts per million (ppm) level it is detected in these batches. CPL s experience with methyl ester trail back stems from test batches of ULSD lubricity additives that were performed in 2005 and 2006, the results of which are not publicly accessible. Similarly, Colonial does not allow lubricity additive in the ULSD batches it ships regardless of its batching sequence. Conclusions: NPS s conclusions are as follows: 1. No adverse impact to the base fuel specification of the blended B5 batch. All ASTM D975 specifications were acceptable, including no water or sediment traces. 2. No test methods are currently available to determine trail back below 1.7% by volume. NPS and CPL would like to see a test method developed with accuracy to single digit parts per million (ppm) of methyl ester. Recommendations and Next Steps: Northville Product Services recommends developing a test method that will accurately determine whether or not adverse trail back of methyl ester occurs. It is NPS recommendation that NBB in cooperation with the AOPL (Association of Oil Pipe Lines) contract with Southwest Research Institute, reknown independent motor fuel research laboratory, to develop the methyl ester measurement test protocols and equipment 3 of 10

4 required. This methodology should then be proven during another test run. NPS believes that these can be resolved within the next months if SwRI is employed. NPS also recommends working with Colonial Pipeline and other pipeline companies to gain a comfort level of testing method and develop future operational procedures to protect jet fuel from potential contamination to achieve their endorsement of biodiesel blends with their shippers, customers and owners. 4 of 10

5 5 of 10

6 6 of 10

7 7 of 10

8 8 of 10

9 9 of 10

10 10 of 10

Louis Dreyfus Claypool Holdings, LLC. Biodiesel Production Plant Claypool, Indiana

Louis Dreyfus Claypool Holdings, LLC Biodiesel Production Plant Claypool, Indiana Soybeans 163,000 Bu. = 48 Railcars = 172 Trucks Electricity 156,695 Kwh Natural Gas 3,049 Dth Claypool Inputs/Outputs Per