Bio-oil Transportation by Pipeline

Abstract

Bio-oil which is produced by fast pyrolysis of biomass has high energy density compared to ‘as received’ biomass. Two cases are studied for pipeline transport of bio-oil, a coal-based and hydro power based electricity supplies. These cases of pipeline transport are compared to two cases of truck transport (trailer and super B-train truck). The life cycle GHG emissions from the pipeline transport of bio-oil for the two sources of electricity are 345 and 17 g of CO2 m-3 km-1. The emissions for transport by trailer and super B-train truck are 89 and 60 g of CO2 m-3 km-1. Energy input for bio-oil transport is 3.95 MJ m-3 km-1 by pipeline, 2.59 MJ m-3 km-1 by trailer, and 1.66 MJ m-3 km-1 by super B-train truck. The results show that GHG emissions in pipeline transport are largely dependent on the source of electricity; substituting 250 m3 day-1 of pipeline-transported bio-oil for coal can mitigate about 5.1 million tonnes of CO2 per year in the production of electricity. The fixed and variable components of cost are 0.0423 $/m3 and 0.1201 $/m3/km at a pipeline capacity of 560 m3/day and for a distance of 100. It costs less to transport bio-oil by pipeline than by trailer and super B-train tank trucks at pipeline capacities of 1,000 and 1,700 m3/day, and for a transportation distance of 100 km. Power from pipeline-transported bio-oil is expensive than power that is produced by direct combustion of wood chips and transmitted through electric lines.