Expansion of Existing Biorefinery for Producing Low Carbon Intensity Biodiesel

The project involved the expansion of an existing biodiesel production facility at the Port of Stockton from 10 million gallons per year to 15 million gallons per year capacity. The substantial amount of existing infrastructure and equipment at the facility and the flexibility of the original plant design contributed to the project team being able to complete the expansion within twelve months from the grant agreement date.

To expand the production capacity, the project team installed an additional reactor, new process equipment, piping and upgraded a variety of existing piping and ancillary equipment. The project team exceeded the objectives of the project: production flow rates have been demonstrated at 50 gallons per minute, which could support over 25 million gallons per year of biodiesel production. Fuel produced was analyzed to verify that it meets applicable fuel quality specifications including more stringent internal and customer standards. Delivering an additional 15 million gallons of biodiesel per year into California's diesel fuel supply will result in the displacement of 14.1 million gallons of petroleum per year and the associated reduction in greenhouse gas and other harmful emissions.