Fuels provided by nature

The latest major milestone we have reached in the fuel sector is Bio Diesel – the result of the innovative Ecofining™ technology developed in Eni’s laboratories in collaboration with Honeywell UOP.
This new component is derived from the hydrogenation of vegetable oils and performs better than traditional biodiesels. It is produced in Eni’s Venice biorefinery – the first example in the world of a ‘green’ conversion of a pre-existing refinery. When added to diesel, it gives rise to Eni Diesel +.
The Ecofining™ process transforms raw materials of biological origin into biofuel, using any type of first or second-generation feedstock.

• First generation: plant oils, such as palm oil
• Second generation: used food oils, biomass from urban organic solid waste and by-products of processing plant and animal-based raw materials.

Eni’s Upstream and Downstream Research Centre in San Donato Milanese is also testing new feedstocks derived from fats for biofuel production.

How oil samples are analysed

The Eni Renewable Energies and Environmental Research Centre in Novara houses a spectrometry laboratory where the biofuels and oil samples are analysed, rapidly revealing their molecular composition. The instrument used – a spectrometer – contains a 7 Tesla magnet, which produces mass spectra in high resolution and with great accuracy. The values obtained allow compounds with a similar mass value to be separated out and their molecular formula calculated. Automation has halved the time taken to process a mass spectrum.

Not all oils are alike

Plant oils, animal fats or waste oils... the flexibility of the Ecofining™ process used at Eni's Venice biorefinery means different feedstocks can be treated. However, they all have different characteristics, which must be taken into consideration to optimise the process. The biorefinery currently uses certified sustainable palm oil and a percentage of alternative biofeedstocks (used cooking oils and processing by-products) whose quality is guaranteed by analysis in the laboratories of the biorefinery and also the Research Centre in San Donato Milanese. The Research Centre uses standard elementary analysis and chromatography as well as sophisticated spectroscopy techniques such as nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) to study the characteristics of the various commercially available feedstocks (cooking oil, semi-finished animal fats and so on.)

What advantages does Eni Diesel + offer?

Tests and benchmarking on the fuel we sell in Italy have confirmed the oustanding quality of Eni Diesel +.

Biofuels: what will happen in 2020?

Bio Diesel is the first significant step towards ever more advanced creations that comply with or even pre-empt the stringent Italian and European legislation on biofuels. Italian legislation requires 10 per cent of fuels on sale in Italy to be made of biofuel by 2020, of which 1.6 per cent must be advanced biofuels. Bio Diesel can be added in high percentages to fuels for powering vehicles. Indeed, because it is obtained from the hydrogenation of vegetable oils, it does not contain oxygen, and is a pure hydrocarbon, unlike traditional biodiesel. In addition, the European Commission has set out obligatory sustainability criteria for bio-components, which include protection of the soil, water resources and air, ensuring social sustainability and preventing competition with the food supply chain. Bio Diesel ticks all these boxes and, thanks to the flexibility of the Ecofining™ process, it can be obtained from animal fats or waste oil from homes, as well as ‘advanced’ sources such as suitable pre-treated lignocellulosic waste. Eni’s Research and Innovation team is working to implement future European directives on the growing use of advanced biofuels, which will drastically reduce greenhouse gas emissions. This is a responsibility and a challenge to which our company is fully committed, based on environmentally-friendly decisions.