SAJJAD KHUDHUR ABBASCeo , Founder & Head of SHacademyChemical Engineering , Al-Muthanna University, IraqOil & Gas Safety and Health Professional – OSHACADEMYTrainer of Trainers (TOT) - Canadian Center of Human Development

Episode 46 : PRODUCTION OF OLEOCHEMICAL METHYL ESTER

FROM RBD PALM KERNEL OIL

Oleo chemicals

• The term ― oleo chemicals refers to any chemical compounds derived from natural oils

• almost 95% of natural oils and fats are used in food application

• small percentage is applied in non-food purposes such as soap manufacturing

The advantages of using oleo chemicals over petrochemicals

are: 1.Oleo chemicals are derived from renewable

resources . 2.Oleo chemical production requires less energy

and causes less pollution . 3.Oleo chemicals are fully non-toxic .

What is palm oil? Palm oil is an edible vegetable oil derived from pulping the fruit of oil palms originally native to Africa. Palm oil is commonly used as a cooking oil in Africa, Southeast Asia and parts of Brazil and its consumption is on the rise worldwide. Palm oil is semi-solid at room temperatures .

Palm & Palm kernel oil

Productions from

Palm oil

Methyl Ester Methyl ester, often called fatty acid methyl esters (FAME) are a type of fatty acid ester that are derived from the transesterification . (Lotero et al., 2005)

homogeneous base catalysts such as sodium hydroxide (NaOH) or another strong base such as potassium hydroxide (KOH) . These inexpensive catalysts shorten the reaction time and they are easy to handle in terms of transportation and storage

Storage Store in closed containers between 13°C and 49°C, in well ventilated areas protected from sunlight. Do not store close to flames or sparks. This material is NOT dangerous for air, ground or marine transport .(MSDS)

Packaging : PE , DR

Feedstocks These feedstocks include :• vegetable oils • soybean oil• palm oil • sunflower oil • corn oil

1. Waste Cooking Oils This type of feed stocks is of low cost, making them attractive for FAME production . Using waste cooking oil, especially those that cannot be treated, will reduce the environment pollution. Waste cooking oil conversion into FAME through the transesterification process

2. Animal Fats Animal fats are received from chicken, and fish. Tallow and animal meats which are not allowed to be used as food can be used as methyl ester production feedstock.

Advantages of Methyl Esters from RBD Palm kernel Oil• Lower Energy Consumption • Less Expensive Equipment • Easier to Distill-Fractionate • Easier to Transport

APPLICATIONS OF PRODUCTS 1. FAME as Biodiesel

The flow and combustion properties of biodiesel are almost similar to petroleum-based diesel. As a point of comparison, pure biodiesel (B100) releases about 90% of the energy that normal diesel does. Hence, it is expected that the engine performance is nearly the same

These characteristics of biodiesel reduce the noxious emissions in the exhaust gas compared to petro-diesel.

Values for the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) Standards of Maximum Allowed

Quantities in Diesel and Biodiesel

2. FAME as Raw Materials for Other Products As intermediate to produce a number of oleo chemical derivatives such as fatty alcohols, sucrose esters, alkanolamides, soaps, alpha-sulfonated methyl esters, and other fatty esters as shown below .

3. Methyl Octanoate/Decanoate (Light Cut: C8-10)

Crude methyl esters can be fractionated to separate the C8-C10 fraction, known as plasticizer range. The plasticizer range methyl ester is a liquid with good dissolving power. It can be used in a limited way as a solvent for printing inks 4. Methyl Laurate/Myristate (Middle Cut:

C12-14) Middle cut methyl esters are most preferred for detergent use . The C12-C14 methyl esters find special application as lubricant additives 5. Methyl Palmitate/Oleate (Heavy Cut: C16-

18) Most heavy-cut (C16-18) methyl ester is consumed as either biodiesel or in lubricant . It is also used as a solvent, as a plasticizer, solvent for solid active ingredients in products as diverse as body lotions, facial self-tanning creams, fade creams, hair conditioners and styling creams

Glycerin Glycerin, also called glycerol, is a common by-product in the methyl esters manufacturing process . Glycerin is :• a nontoxic• edible • biodegradable compound

It is widely used in the manufacture of drugs, plasticizers for medicine capsules , Besides, glycerin is an excellent solvent of iodine, bromine, phenol, tannins, alkaloids

MARKET SURVEY the global demand for the oleo chemicals will exceed the global production capacity.

Global Supply & Demand for Oleo chemicals

it is expected to grow at 6% per year over the next five years . The Asia-Pacific led by Malaysia, China, and Indonesia, accounts for 68% or around two-thirds of the global oleo chemicals market and this is expected to grow at 8% per year over the next five years

Geographic breakdown of global oleo chemicals market and projected growth 2013-2018

Major ASEAN oleo chemical producers

methyl ester has started to gain world‘s attention and it has increasingly

Basic Oleo chemicals exported from Malaysia (in tones)

List of RBD Palm Kernel Oil Supplier in Malaysia

Competitors Methyl Ester Producers in Malaysia

SCREENING OF SYNTHESIS ROUTE

A base catalyst is a chemical with a pH value greater than 7.• Sodium hydroxide (NaOH)• potassium hydroxide (KOH)• and sodium methoxide (CH3ONa)

are the most common homogeneous base catalysts employed during alkaline transesterification . The base catalyzed process is the most commonly used because of its relative ease. It can be performed at low temperature and pressure and yields high conversion (98%) within a short time Homogeneous catalysts have been used industrially for methyl ester production

1. Alkali/Base-catalyzed Transesterification :

2.Acid-catalyzed Transesterification Most commonly used acids are strong acids like sulphuric, sulphonic, phosphoric, and hydrochloric acids Acid-catalyzed transesterification processes are not as popular as the base-catalyzed processes, mainly because strong acids are corrosive and the processes are too slow. Several reactions may be required in order to achieve high conversion. It has been stated that acid-catalyzed reaction may be 4000 times slower than the base catalyst process

3. Non-catalytic TransesterificationTo avoid catalyst drawbacks transesterification process was suggested . As a result of catalyst absence, purification of the products of the transesterification reaction is much simpler and environmentally friendly compared to the previously mentioned processes.They reported that conventional catalyst required 1 hr to convert palm oil to FAME, Compared to catalytic reactions, SCM reactions are fast and can achieve high conversions in a very short time. However, the reaction requires higher temperatures, pressures, and alcohol to oil molar ratio in comparison to catalytic transesterification, which result in high production cost

4. Enzymatic Transesterification Has the advantage of having low operating conditions and high product purity. Enzymatic transesterification can be carried out at 35 to 45°C . On the other hand, the major disadvantages of the enzymatic transesterification are its slower reaction rate and possible enzyme inactivation by methanol .

Screening of Catalyst Types The transesterification reaction can be catalyzed by acids, bases or enzymes. Besides, acid and base catalysts can be further categorised into homogeneneous and heterogeneous forms.

Comparison of various catalysts for transesterification

(Lam et al., 2010)

1. Sodium hydroxide (NaOH) 2. Potassium hydroxide (KOH) 3. Sodium methoxide (NaOCH3) 4. Potassium methoxide (KOCH3)

Catalyst Options

At present, NaOH and KOH are the mostly used industrial catalysts. The reasons that those two compounds are chosen, lie to the facts that they are widely available and economical and they cause high conversion to methyl ester in low temperature and pressure in a short reaction time

Comparison of different homogeneous alkali catalysts

NaOCH3 (18 scores) is selected to be the best homogeneous base catalyst.

OBJECTIVES The objectives of this plant design project are as follow: 1. To produce 70,000 metric ton per annum of

methyl esters from RBD palm kernel oil.

2. To achieve the production of methyl esters by using homogeneous base-catalyzed transesterification method with sodium methoxide (NaOCH3) as catalyst.

Block flow diagram

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