Most refiners assume producing renewable fuels means building something new. Ketjen’s experience across 50-plus commercial projects says otherwise.
By: Barbara Slettenhaar, VP and GM, Clean Fuels Technology, Ketjen
The assumption is understandable. When refiners start thinking about sustainable aviation fuel, renewable diesel, or co-processing bio-based feeds, the conversation often goes straight to capital planning, new units, and long permitting timelines.
Ketjen’s Clean Fuels Technology team has spent 15 years demonstrating that this assumption is often wrong.
Existing Infrastructure
The existing hydroprocessing infrastructure in most refineries is more capable than operators realize. With the right catalyst system and technical support, existing hydrotreating units can process meaningful volumes of renewable and waste-based feedstocks alongside conventional petroleum. Ketjen has supported more than 50 commercial co-processing projects on that basis, including operations running entirely on hydrotreated vegetable oil, or HVO, with no new major equipment required.
ReNewFine Portfolio
The business case is straightforward. Renewable fuel premiums are real and growing in multiple markets. If a refinery can capture those premiums using equipment it already owns, the return on investment is fundamentally different from a greenfield calculation.
What ultimately enables refiners to unlock this potential is a catalyst system designed specifically for renewable integration. Ketjen’s ReNewFine™ portfolio is built around the realities of renewables processing, managing oxygenates, water formation, and feedstock variability while protecting unit stability and cycle length. By combining tailored catalyst formulations with application know-how from decades of hydroprocessing, ReNewFine allows refiners to increase renewable feed ratios without compromising performance or reliability.
For refiners looking at where renewable production fits in their portfolio, the first conversation should be about what the existing units can already do.