Canada-headed EnerPure Inc., a recycling and energy transition company, has reported on its progress towards deploying its first full-scale Used Motor Oil (UMO) recycling plant that converts UMO to marine fuel.
Used Motor Oil (UMO) is any petroleum-based or synthetic lubricating oil that cannot be used for its original purpose due to contamination.
With an estimated 17 billion litres of UMO burnt or dumped each year, which is around 70 percent of total UMO produced worldwide annually, the improper disposal of UMO is a growing environmental and societal problem.
EnerPure sees a tremendous opportunity to solve this problem by deploying its micro-scale recycling plants using its patented technology to convert UMO into high-quality marine fuel.
According to the company, its micro-scale recycling plants have a significantly lower CAPEX, US$14.9 million which is approximately 5 percent of traditional solutions and provide localized solutions for the recycling of UMO while significantly reducing the cost of collection.
We recycle UMO to reduce GHG emissions while producing a lower carbon-intensive marine fuel. Our technology has been proven via our pilot plant with 1.6 million litres processed and validated through fuel sales of over 1.2 million litres. Our marine fuel is in high demand in this growing market due to meeting and exceeding the exacting requirements of the ISO 8217:2017 marine fuel standard while delivering an 8-14 percent lower carbon intensity, said Todd Habicht, CEO and Founder of EnerPure.
Improved economics
During the first six months of 2024, EnerPure finalized its energy efficient Process Design and accompanying Process Flow Diagrams (PFDs), where it was determined that 28 percent of the marine fuel production could be an LSMGO (low sulphur marine gasoil) compliant product and the remainder (72 percent) would be VLSFO (very low sulphur fuel oil).
EnerPure highlights that LSMGO sells at a premium to VLSFO and both EnerPure’s LSMGO and VLSFO products have a < 1,000 ppm sulphur content, well below required industry standards.
The company also says that the UMO Recycling Plant has an industry-leading 92 percent conversion rate from UMO to marine fuel and a 95 percent saleable product conversion rate when including by-products.
The completion of our product optimization work and the successful production of recycled LSMGO further enhance both our environmental credentials and financial returns. Leveraging the experience from our pilot plant, our engineering team, in collaboration with Ascent Engineering, has finalized the process flow diagrams. The robust economics of our Alberta Recycling Plant underscore our capability to deploy 21 recycling plants over the next six years, aiming to eliminate half a million tonnes of GHG emissions, said Todd Habicht.
Completed validation run
The updated economics include adjustments made following the conclusion of EnerPure’s validation efforts wherein 1.6 million litres of UMO were processed at its Alberta pilot plant, and through the advancement of work led by Ascent Engineering Inc. (Ascent), an engineering firm that specializes in the design, modification, debottlenecking, and scale-up of petroleum refineries, renewables technology, and chemical processing facilities.
The finalization of the process design and PFDs will enable the company to update its carbon intensity and greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction calculations while no GHG credits or recycling fees are factored into the economics.
Life Cycle Associates, a company that analyzes the energy and environmental impacts of fuels and energy systems by working with their clients around the world to further the reduction of harmful emissions and negative impacts on the environment and climate, has been engaged to complete this update and expects to be able to report on this shortly.
A low capital cost of US$14.9 million per facility with an annual UMO processing capacity of 31.5 million litres enables EnerPure to bring its UMO recycling solution to regions that otherwise would not be able to effectively or economically implement UMO recycling, delivering significant economic and environmental benefits to these areas.
With EnerPure’s solution, environmental need meets strong economic returns to enable regional recycling of the disseminated UMO problem; we believe that recycling will fuel the energy transition, ended Todd Habicht.
