Grant: Applied Research and Development Grants - Level 3

There is global trend to move off petroleum products and one solution is to replace petroleum fuels with bio fuels. Bio fuels provide a source of energy security not subject to the disruptive supply of fossil fuels. Bio fuels are easy to use in today's engines without the need to make modifications. They can be stored, burned and pumped the same way as petroleum diesel fuel. Steeper Energy Canada Ltd. (Steeper) has developed HydrofactionTM, a petroleum-like oil produced from waste biomass by-products from agricultural/agro-industrial forestry residues and urban organic waste. Steeper Energy Canada has been conducting research to optimize the pathways for HydrofactionTM biocrude oil upgrading using commercial and developed their own special purpose catalysts. Their target market for this work is jet and marine applications where Canada has identified a desire to reduce our reliance on the diesel used in these environments. Their research has successfully demonstrated HydrofactionTM oil upgradability to blend stocks and diesel, however, there is a room for improvement, especially finding a suitable and competitive economic process scheme. The proposed project will maximize jet and marine boiling point range yield while complying with regulated fuel standards. The work will produce enough data for commercial process scale-up. The impact to Canadians is a product that will revolutionize the aviation and marine fuel industries, reduce greenhouse gases and provide an expansion to our energy industry bringing training and jobs to Canadians.