Tank lining challenges in bio feedstock storage

RIP2025-00052: Green House Gas policies drive the decarbonization of the economy, making energy supplies more sustainable. New and conventional fuels can be produced using green energy and sustainable feedstocks. In Water-to-Energy processes water is converted into fuels like Methanol, Ammonia or LNG. Or in Waste-to-Energy processes (bio-)feedstocks are converted into fuels like Methanol, FAME, Diesel and SAF. The conventional fuels made from bio-feedstocks are at the center of the energy transition to reduce GHG, since these fuels play an important role in decarbonizing transportation on the shorter term. Biofuels continue to be made from crops, but policies and supply drive the use of non-food crops, waste streams and residue streams such as used cooking oils, animal fats and other residues.

Although there is a long history of storage and (maritime) transportation of vegetable oils, fats and fatty acids in coated tanks, these products are often purified and of defined composition and quality. The use, storage and transportation of waste and residue feedstocks used in renewable fuel production create new challenges in corrosion and tank lining performance. The bio-feedstocks are typically poorly defined mixtures of different kinds and levels of oils, fatty acids, water, and residues. In combination with degradation products, the presence of water and increased temperature these mixtures can create an environment aggressive to the steel and the linings protecting the steel substrate of storage and transportation tanks. New lining solutions are needed to protect storage assets to the complex environment that the storage of bio-feedstocks bring.

This RIP presentation discusses some of these storage and coating challenges, such as differences in feedstock compositions and effects of these on coating performance, experimental set-up to study coating performance in bio-feedstocks and results obtained and discusses model-feedstock to standardize on experimental work.