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PETROMAKS2-Stort program petroleum

LignoWax – Green Wax Inhibitors and Production Chemicals based on Lignin

Alternative title: LignoWax – Grønne voksinhibitorer og produksjonskjemikalier basert på lignin

Awarded: NOK 5.2 mill.

Project Number:

326876

Project Period:

2021 - 2024

Partner countries:

Effective production chemicals are paramount for ensuring smooth petroleum operations. Wax crystallization poses as one of the major challenges, which is particularly faced in cold subsea environments. The project will develop new wax inhibitors to support efficient and economic production. Lignin is the second most abundant biopolymer on earth and is extracted in large quantities during pulping and biorefinery operation. It is attributed with enormous potential due to its abundance and rich chemistry. Current research has spawned a multitude of new modification routes and potential applications. The project aims at taking this development to the next level, which will enable sustainable and benign specialty chemicals based on lignin. The project will systematically address current technological bottlenecks. Firstly, selection and refinement of possible feedstocks are studied. Secondly the chemical modification of lignin is developed and optimized, ensuring sustainable production, scale-ability, and good economics. Feedstock and synthesis are furthermore tailored to yield the most efficient wax inhibition. At last, potential other applications and the overall environmental impact are assessed. By enabling production chemicals based on natural resources, the project will contribute to an overall CO2-reduction of petroleum operations. In addition, bio-based polymers are usually environmentally benign and inherently biodegradable. By utilizing lignin from biorefinery operations, this project provides a paramount case, in which Norway’s petroleum industry is boosting the development of green technologies and our bioeconomy.

The goal of the project is to fill the need of petroleum industry for efficient and sustainable wax inhibitors and production chemicals. The project will generate key competences and advance the current state-of-the-art in direct esterification of lignin and utilization of lignin-based specialty chemicals for petroleum production. An oil soluble lignin can be made by reacting lignin’s hydroxyl groups with fatty acids, which would be 100% bio based. Reacting long chain alcohols with lignin’s carboxyl groups would allow further tailoring of synthesis and product. Direct esterification will be researched and optimized, as this will enable the sustainable and economic production of specialty chemicals based on lignin-alkyl-esters. The wax inhibition efficiency will be optimized by tailoring the input reagents, lignin pretreatment, synthesis route and conditions, and other factors. Detailed characterization of the effect on wax crystallization will be done. Additional application areas within petroleum production will be screened, such as asphaltene inhibition, foaming agents, and oilwell dispersants. At last, the sustainability gain will be documented by assessing biodegradability and the overall carbon balance. The project will generate competences in key ares by addressing current issues in research, such as green specialty chemicals, lignin modification, and biomass valorization. An interdisciplinary team of researchers and engineers with complementary backgrounds is assembled. The project is deeply rooted within key industries of Norway, while considering the entire value chain of oilfield chemicals to facilitate prompt commercial implementation of the results. The utilization of lignin from biorefinery operation will provide a paramount example, in which petroleum industry fosters the development of green technologies.

Funding scheme:

PETROMAKS2-Stort program petroleum