Biorefining of oleochemicals using synthetic membranes

生物柴油是一种可再生燃料，可提供经过验证的温室气体净减排。生物柴油的生命周期分析表明，其生产中每单位能源投入可获得3.2个单位的能源。这是所有液体运输燃料中能量产率最高的；远远超过石油柴油和汽油。然而，生物柴油并不是严重影响其质量的馏分。这项工作的目标是通过使用我们实验室开发的新型膜反应器来显著提高生物柴油的质量和稳定性。此外，还将确定通过这项新技术捕获油脂化学品的可能性。膜反应器技术在回收原始种子油中发现的有价值的亲油物质方面具有巨大的潜力。迅速发展的生物柴油行业提供了一个尚未开发的油脂化学品来源，如天然维生素和在这些油中发现的亲油物质。目前的生物柴油加工技术无法捕获这些物质。它们的捕获将抵消原料的成本；降低生物柴油的成本，同时提高其纯度。考察了这些化合物对生物柴油稳定性的影响。在这项工作中，建议对一些粗籽油进行酯交换；分离和鉴定膜反应器中残留的不皂化物质，并研究它们对燃料稳定性的影响。这是第一次提供这样的流程流。考虑到反应器中发生的反应和分离的独特组合以及生物柴油生产中潜在的不皂化物质的数量，由于我们新开发的膜反应器的结果，这些油脂化学物质的回收非常有意义。在第二个项目中，将减少现有生物柴油厂的环境足迹，该项目旨在在传统工艺中进行水洗或吸附之前去除甘油。这两个项目都将通过提高生物柴油的纯度和稳定性，提高其商业接受度，充分发挥这种优良的可再生燃料的温室气体缓解潜力。

Biodiesel is a renewable fuel that offers proven net green house gas reductions. The life cycle analysis of biodiesel indicates that 3.2 units of energy can be obtained for every unit of energy input in its production. This is the highest energy yield of all liquid transportation fuels; well above petrodiesel and gasoline. However, biodiesel is not a distillate which seriously affects its quality. It is the objective of this work to significantly improve biodiesel quality and stability by the use of a novel membrane reactor developed in our laboratories. In addition to this, the possibility of capturing oleochemicals by this new technology will be determined. Membrane reactor technology offers significant potential in recuperating valuable oleophilic substances found in raw seed oils. The rapidly expanding biodiesel industry offers an untapped source of oleochemicals, such as natural vitamins and oleophilic substances found in these oils. Present biodiesel processing technology cannot capture these substances. Their capture will offset the cost of raw feedstocks; reducing the cost of biodiesel while increasing its purity. The influence of these compounds on the stability of biodiesel will be investigated. It is proposed in this work to transesterify a number of raw seed oils; isolate and identify the unsaponifiable substances retained in the membrane reactor and study their effect on fuel stability. It is the first time that such a process stream is available. The recuperation of these oleochemicals, as a result of our newly developed membrane reactor, is of great interest given the unique combination of reaction and separation occurring in the reactor and the potential quantities of unsaponifiable material available in the production of biodiesel. The environmental footprint of existing biodiesel plants will be reduced in a second project aimed at removing glycerol prior to water washing or adsorption in conventional processes. Both projects will enhance the commercial acceptance of higher blends of biodiesel by improving its purity and stability; realizing the full green house gas mitigation potential of this excellent renewable fuel.