BlueFire Ethanol Fuels Inc, which develops and operates carbohydrate-based transportation fuel production facilities, has secured capital liquidity for corporate overhead and continued project development in the value of US$15 million with Quercus, an environmentally focused trust.
Süd-Chemie to manufacture biodiesel catalysts for Benefuel
Benefuel, Inc., a biodiesel refining and distribution company, announced an exclusive, world-wide manufacturing agreement with New Delhi-based Süd-Chemie India Pvt. Ltd. (SCIL), a joint venture of Germany's Süd-Chemie AG, one of the world's largest catalyst companies. Under the terms of the manufacturing and supply agreement, SCIL will manufacture the proprietary catalysts for Benefuel's biodiesel
production facilities around the world.
Traditional biodiesel 'catalysts' are better described as chemical 'reactants', rather than catalysts, because they are destroyed during the refining process. Sodium and potassium hydroxides – the most common substances used to transesterify oils and fats into methyl esters - are consumed during production and must be washed out of the biodiesel crude. In addition to being discarded after each batch, caustic reagents must be neutralized with acid before the biodiesel can be recovered and then contaminate the glycerin byproduct with waste salts, which dramatically degrades its commercial value, as well as add costs to the biodiesel process.
Benefuel's solid catalyst technology, developed by chemists and chemical engineers at India's National Chemical Laboratory (NCL), based in Pune, can on the contrary turn most vegetable oils, animal fats or waste cooking oils directly into fatty acid methyl esters, without the need for costly pre-processing or post-process water washing.
Benefuel's ENSEL process, which employs these catalysts, also produces a highly pure glycerin co-product. The purity of this glycerin permits its direct conversion into other commercially attractive chemicals or to pharmaceutical grade glycerin, providing an additional revenue stream for biodiesel manufacturers. The catalysts can also be used with long-chain alcohols to produce premium biolubricant base oils.
The utilization of solid catalysts changes the fundamentals of the biodiesel refining equation, enabling a continuous flow fuel-processing model that is not possible in traditional stirred tank reactors. The latter convert feedstocks to methyl esters in 'batches', requiring significant labor inputs and stop-and-go production. The continuous flow model based on catalysts streamlines the production process and allows for constant output:
energy :: sustainability :: biomass :: bioenergy :: biofuels :: biodiesel :: transesterification :: glycerin :: catalyst ::
Because of this, a Benefuel refinery does not require manual batch testing for quality assurance. Each Benefuel refinery is continuously monitored cutting labor costs and eliminating down time.
Benefuel addresses several major problems in biodiesel today. Its technology platform enables to:
Benefuel, Inc. is a new-generation biodiesel refining and distribution company with a streamlined production process that allows for distributed and scalable biodiesel plants that leverage local resources, enable cost advantages for producers and distributors, and facilitate expansion of the biofuels market.
Benefuel was incorporated in December 2006 bringing together two complimentary groups of entrepreneurs: the team from Gripp Industries, a biodiesel company based on a keen understanding of the fuel needs of the transportation industry and the team from New Century Lubricants which has been developing petroleum and chemical engineering solutions for the past 30 years.
Süd-Chemie AG is a highly-innovative, specialty chemical company operating on a worldwide scale, its catalysts and adsorbents divisions offering products and technical solutions to facilitate effective use of resources in customer value chains.
References:
PRNewswire: Süd-Chemie Enters Biodiesel Market as Manufacturer of Benefuel Catalysts - January 8, 2007.
Benefuel: ENSEL process.
production facilities around the world.
Traditional biodiesel 'catalysts' are better described as chemical 'reactants', rather than catalysts, because they are destroyed during the refining process. Sodium and potassium hydroxides – the most common substances used to transesterify oils and fats into methyl esters - are consumed during production and must be washed out of the biodiesel crude. In addition to being discarded after each batch, caustic reagents must be neutralized with acid before the biodiesel can be recovered and then contaminate the glycerin byproduct with waste salts, which dramatically degrades its commercial value, as well as add costs to the biodiesel process.
Benefuel's solid catalyst technology, developed by chemists and chemical engineers at India's National Chemical Laboratory (NCL), based in Pune, can on the contrary turn most vegetable oils, animal fats or waste cooking oils directly into fatty acid methyl esters, without the need for costly pre-processing or post-process water washing.
Benefuel's ENSEL process, which employs these catalysts, also produces a highly pure glycerin co-product. The purity of this glycerin permits its direct conversion into other commercially attractive chemicals or to pharmaceutical grade glycerin, providing an additional revenue stream for biodiesel manufacturers. The catalysts can also be used with long-chain alcohols to produce premium biolubricant base oils.
The utilization of solid catalysts changes the fundamentals of the biodiesel refining equation, enabling a continuous flow fuel-processing model that is not possible in traditional stirred tank reactors. The latter convert feedstocks to methyl esters in 'batches', requiring significant labor inputs and stop-and-go production. The continuous flow model based on catalysts streamlines the production process and allows for constant output:
energy :: sustainability :: biomass :: bioenergy :: biofuels :: biodiesel :: transesterification :: glycerin :: catalyst :: Because of this, a Benefuel refinery does not require manual batch testing for quality assurance. Each Benefuel refinery is continuously monitored cutting labor costs and eliminating down time.
Benefuel addresses several major problems in biodiesel today. Its technology platform enables to:
- Process the broadest range of feedstocks with no pre-processing (up to 100% FFA’s).
- Eliminate the need for water washing or dry washing, as there is no caustic liquid catalyst to remove.
- Create an exceptionally high purity glycerin (98%+) resulting in significant economic benefits.
- Reduce the size of the plant to a portable micro-refinery. These refineries can be pre-configured and shipped ready to produce fuel.
- Eliminate the possibility of out of specification fuel with an in-line, continuous automated quality monitoring system connected through Internet technologies.
Benefuel, Inc. is a new-generation biodiesel refining and distribution company with a streamlined production process that allows for distributed and scalable biodiesel plants that leverage local resources, enable cost advantages for producers and distributors, and facilitate expansion of the biofuels market.
Benefuel was incorporated in December 2006 bringing together two complimentary groups of entrepreneurs: the team from Gripp Industries, a biodiesel company based on a keen understanding of the fuel needs of the transportation industry and the team from New Century Lubricants which has been developing petroleum and chemical engineering solutions for the past 30 years.
Süd-Chemie AG is a highly-innovative, specialty chemical company operating on a worldwide scale, its catalysts and adsorbents divisions offering products and technical solutions to facilitate effective use of resources in customer value chains.
References:
PRNewswire: Süd-Chemie Enters Biodiesel Market as Manufacturer of Benefuel Catalysts - January 8, 2007.
Benefuel: ENSEL process.
posted by Biopact team at 12:59 PM
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