Chemical-enzymatic process makes use of vegetable oil
24 Oct 2012
The Fraunhofer Center for Chemical-Biotechnological Processes in Leuna has set up pilot plant to produce epoxides from domestic vegetable oils.
The work is part of the Integrated BioProduction project aiming to provide oil-independence to countries that lack raw materials.
Epoxides are highly reactive organic compounds made up of a triple ring with two carbon atoms and one oxygen atom.
Among other things, the chemicals industry uses them for the production of lubricants for vehicles and engines, as well as surfactants and emulsifiers for detergents and cleansers.
Until now, epoxides have been based primarily on source materials procured from petroleum.
In 2009, roughly 14 million tons of vegetable oil was used for chemical-technical products
Researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute for Interfacial Engineering and Biotechnology have engineered a chemical-enzymatic process that now enables vegetable oil-based production, at lower temperatures and under more environmentally-friendly conditions.
The Fraunhofer Center for Chemical-Biotechnological Processes in Leuna has made this technology ready for industrial application.
Starting this month, the findings obtained in the laboratory will be scaled up to an even larger volume.
Quantities of up to 100 liters will be possible at the new center, corresponding to a 70 kilogram-batch of epoxides.
“Even if the petrochemical process can never be completely replaced – the potential for sustainable raw materials in the chemicals industry is immense,” said Dr. Katja Patzsch, group manager for biotechnological processes at CBP.
“In 2009, roughly 14 million tons of vegetable oil was used for chemical-technical products, compared to about 400 million tons of mineral oil in the same year.
“To reduce the dependence on petroleum and carve out potential savings in CO2 equivalents, the industry needs ultramodern biorefineries. In Leuna, we are creating just the right processes for this”
The 14 partners in the Integrated BioProduction project will be working until April 2014 on engineering a process for procuring epoxides, made from domestic vegetable oils, for industry use.
Using by-products from the food industry
The foods that are suitable for epoxides production include the oils of mustard, elder seed, crambe (Abyssinian cabbage) and dragonhead.
To some extent, these oils emerge from food production as by-products, but are not themselves used as food. The epoxide is procured in Leuna from fluid oils, or fatty acids as well, with the aid of chemical-enzymatic epoxidation.
In contrast to the established, pure chemical variety, the enzyme lipase here catalyses peracid, the epoxidation medium.
The main benefits are that the enzyme is easier and more efficient to handle.
In comparison to many other chemical reactions, they operate at moderate temperatures, at neutral pH values and under normal pressure.
