Source: PURDUE UNIVERSITY submitted to
TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT, TRANSFER, AND MARKETING OF INDUSTRIAL PRODUCTS FOR RURAL COMMUNITIES
Sponsoring Institution
National Institute of Food and Agriculture
Project Status
TERMINATED
Funding Source
Reporting Frequency
Annual
Accession No.
0190921
Grant No.
2001-52104-11227
Project No.
IND046061G
Proposal No.
2001-04077
Multistate No.
(N/A)
Program Code
(N/A)
Project Start Date
Sep 15, 2001
Project End Date
Sep 30, 2003
Grant Year
2001
Project Director
Tao, B.
Recipient Organization
PURDUE UNIVERSITY
(N/A)
WEST LAFAYETTE,IN 47907
Performing Department
AGRICULTURAL & BIOLOGICAL ENGINEERING
Non Technical Summary
Soybeans have a long history of industrial utilization. However, farmers and local rural communities have not participated significantly in post-harvest processing operations or economic benefits, since the technology has been scaled for large processing plants. This project will develop technical, economic, and marketing information for creating new industrial products in rural community processing facilities.
Animal Health Component
(N/A)
Research Effort Categories
Basic
50%
Applied
50%
Developmental
(N/A)
Classification

Knowledge Area (KA)Subject of Investigation (SOI)Field of Science (FOS)Percent
5111820200040%
5111820202030%
5111820108010%
6081820301020%
Goals / Objectives
The overall objective of this project is to develop value-added industrial products from soybeans and enhance the profitability of small-scale processing capacity at the local community level. The project is divided into inter-related product-oriented subprojects. The objectives of each of these subprojects is listed below: Aviation deicer product ? Development of suitable deicer formulations composed of glycerol and modified soybean oil, characterizing their thermal and rheological properties ? Testing of these deicer formulations using standard aviation procedures and wind tunnel testing ? Analysis of economics and infrastructure of aviation deicer market, development of local community manufacturing process ? Identification of potential industrial aviation partners for support in certification of deicer commercialization ? develop a stable recyclable catalyst for methyl soyate and glycerol production for heating fuel and as feedstocks for aviation deicers Polyurethane foam product Optimize formulations (soybean meal from the Extruder/Press system, isocyanate, catalysts, surfactants, etc.) for soybean meal-based foams Improve processing and suspension stability by reducing the viscosity of finely ground soybean meal, controlling mixing speed, soybean meal percentage, surfactant, and mixing time Determine and control the microbial stability of polyurethanes by using preservatives Heating fuel project ? Assess the compatibility and modifications needed, of soy heating oil (SHO) with commercial burners/nozzles of oil heating devices on the market. ? Optimized the percentage of soy oil for SHO based on cost and energy provided. ? Examine long term storage issues involving separation and chemical and biological stability ? Design equipment to mix soy oil/petroleum blends and determine how this can be effectively performed in local rural communities. ? Analyze local rural community infrastructure to determine the most effective means of producing and distributing soy oil fuel blends. Expelled oil processing project Examine the effect of genetic and environmental variability and processing operating conditions on the suitability of soybeans for production of foams and aviation deicers Identify varietal characteristics and processing parameters as criteria to ensure processing conditions are suitable for successful production of useful products Comprehensive marketing and economic analyses objectives Develop format for site evaluation - Analyze essential transportation access issues, processing energy costs vs. location - Characterize waste streams from each of the chemical process - Identify potential obstacles and costs of converting existing elevators, warehouses or barns into processing facilities ? Analyze factors affecting choice of organizational structures - Characterize farming communities that have the highest probability for success ? Provide broad commercial expertise to researchers to focus research on best routes to efficient product development ? Provide marketing and technology transfer services
Project Methods
Multi-disciplinary teams from different states will each take conduct research related to their areas of expertise and knowledge for technical development of specific products and processes. Given the highly inter-related nature of these products and processes, teams will work closely together to integrate production and technology issues. An integrated approach will be taken to analyze the needs, opportunities, and economic infrastructure of rural communities. This will be combined with market analyses of industrial product performance specifications and competitive product economics to develop business plans for rural facilities production development.

Progress 09/15/01 to 09/30/03

Outputs
The desire to control the processing/ultimate sale of farm commodities and to reap the full economic benefit from planting a seed to final product is common to many farmers and farm organizations. In the case of soybean processing, capital investment can reach hundreds of millions of dollars. Typically farm cooperatives cannot produce as economically as world scale plant complexes. Their main advantages will be where they can operate using locally produced soybeans and sell to markets that are reasonably close or are not being served by major producers. This will include some markets for specialty products, such as partially defatted soybean meal. Our findings show that, within limits, small expeller plants should be able to operate profitably in large portions of the US. The very smallest expelling units, designed for use by a single farm operation, did not appear to be profitable in any case. There is a limit below which any margin created by processing will not return a reasonable profit on labor. We have made economic assessments based on published commodity prices and interviews with local suppliers and purchasers to determine best estimates of selling prices for specialized products. This project explored the conversion of soy oil and meal into industrial products such as fuels, plastics and deicing compounds using small scale expeller/extruder technologies. This work was generally successful in developing new product applications, some of which are currently being commercialized, but due to regulatory and commodity pricing issues, final economics are not conclusive. As a general statement it can be said that conversion of expelled soybean oil into industrial products, such as biodiesel, will require a larger scale processing facility than the minimum scale required for profitable expelling. This finding could mean scaling individual plants up or it could mean groups of expellers jointly investing in further processing facilities. Fuel uses will vary in economic viability depending on the relative economics of soybean oil prices and energy. These uses will also be highly influenced by public policy toward energy, including the availability of subsidies and/or tax abatements. Long term predictions of the price of soybean oil is favorable vs. petroleum prices. The application of soy flour in polyurethanes does not appear technically feasible at this time, though it shows viable economics if further research should overcome technical hurdles. Each of the proposed industrial products did show some environmental benefit. The process of expelling itself uses more energy than solvent extraction, which should be at least partially offset by reduced transport of the raw beans and finished products. A primary environmental advantage accruing to all soy industrial products is the sequestration of carbon dioxide by the plant during growth. When used as a feedstock or fuel, the net gain in CO2 is reduced by 2.77 lbs per pound of soybean oil consumed compared to an equivalent petro-fuel or feedstock. For feedstock uses, this factor may often result in a net carbon credit.

Impacts
The use of soybean oils and derivatives as replacements for petrochemical products and intermediates is a critical opportunity for agricultural rural development. The use of small scale extrusion-based processing holds promise of rural scale industrialization to improve rural economics and vertical industrial integration in the rural environment. Our work has demonstrated economic feasibility for small scale extrusion/expeller processing for rural scale and technical feasibility for several novel products that are being commercialized.

Publications

  • Martin, J., 2004, Value-Added Products from Soybeans An Economic and Environmental Assessment of Potential Products Using Expelled Soybean Oil and Meal, Omni Tech International, Ltd.,
  • VanLanningham, N. W., 2003, Soybean Oil Containing Triglycerides as a Renewable Component in Residential Heating Applications, MS thesis, Purdue University
  • Smith, J. A., 2004, Initial testing of biobased aviation deicer fluids, MS thesis, Purdue University
  • Smith, W. T., 2004, Glycerine-based aviation deicers and anti-icers, MS thesis, Purdue University
  • Bist, S. and B. Y. Tao, 2004 in press, Controlled Cloud Point Depression of Soybean Methyl Esters by Urea Inclusion, J. Am. Oil Chem. Soc.
  • S. Bist and B. Y. Tao, 2004, U.S. Provisional Patent Appl. Method for Separating Saturated and Unsaturated fractions of Fatty Acid Methyl Esters and Controlling the Cloud Point Depression thereof,
  • Tao, B. Y., 2004 in press, Industrial Applications for Plant-Based Oils and Lipids, in Bioprocessing for Value-Added Products from Renewable Resources., S. T. Yang, ed., Elsevier Publ.
  • Tao, B. Y., 2004 in press, Biofuels for Home Heating Oils, In Industrial Uses of Vegetable Oils, S. Erhan, ed., Am. Oil Chem. Soc. Press
  • J. G., Verkade, 1991, A Powerful Proton Abstracting Agent U.S. Patent 5,052,533


Progress 10/01/02 to 09/30/03

Outputs
The objective of this work is to develop value-added industrial products from soybeans at the local rural community by combining existing small scale expeller processing equipment capacity with soybean utilization technologies. The goal is to produce profitable scaled processes and production that are compatible with local rural community infrastructures. The aviation deicer product has proven to be very promising commercially. The crude glycerol stream from methyl ester production has been shown to have equivalent or superior anti-.deicer performance to existing commercial products from ethylene and propylene glycols. In addition to complete biodegradability, these glycerol solutions are also approximately 1/10th of the cost of EG/PG materials. Current work involves completing a marketing/life cycle analysis, product testing in wind tunnel and on 727 aircraft, and finally FAA certification. The heating fuel group has also been very successful at developing a home heating fuel that incorporated up to 30% degummed soybean oil in commercial heating fuels that has a price advantage vs. current petroleum-based fuels working in existing commercial equipment with decreased sulfur oxide emissions. These fuels are being commercially tested in 2 households and we are seeking industrial partners for this technology adoption. The polyurethane foam group has determined that prototype soy-based foams made from finely ground soymeal from the expeller process do not support significant microbial activity/degradation. These foams are slightly too dense for insulation applications, but may be effectively used as architectural structural foams. The mechanical extrusion/extraction group has developed a model relating the rheological parameters of soybean to processing parameters of temperature, moisture content, and oil content using different soybean varieties with rheological measurement methods (capillary rheometry, mechanical spectrometry and squeezing flow). The consistency coefficient (k) and flow behavior index (n) were calculated and models developed. The results indicate that temperature, moisture and oil content have a significant effect the apparent viscosity of the soy products. In the lower shear rate region, there is a five-fold difference in apparent viscosity over the 45oC temperature range at a moisture content of 17%. The n value decreases with increase in temperature for moisture contents of 20% and 25%. It is also found that oil content has an effect on n value. Temperature has a weak effect on n value. Soybean variety appears to have little effect on viscosity for high shear rate.

Impacts
The use of soybean oils and derivatives as replacements for petrochemical products and intermediates is a critical opportunity for agricultural rural development. The use of small scale extrusion-based processing hold is the promise of rural scale industrialization to improve rural economics and vertical industrial integration in the rural environment. Our work to date has demonstrated technical feasibility for several products that will shortly be used to generate economic models for rural development feasibility.

Publications

  • No publications reported this period


Progress 10/01/01 to 09/30/02

Outputs
The objective of this work is to develop value-added industrial products from soybeans at the local rural community by combining existing small scale expeller processing equipment capacity with soybean utilization technologies. The goal is to produce profitable scaled processes and production that are compatible with local rural community infrastructures. Preliminary technical-economic models indicate that rural community scale soybean processing equipment/operations are economically feasible, a critical issue in this project. Recent developments in extrusion processing at FFF (equipment manufacturer) may also provide product flexibility in the capacity to produce alternative high value products year around. The aviation deicer group has made a significant breakthrough in developing an aqueous glycerol-based deicer composition that remains fluid down to -40 deg. F, a requirement of the FAA. They are currently doing further testing to quantify other physical fluid properties. The heating fuel group has made major progress in developing industrial interest in this project, as noted by the donations of commercial furnace equipment and developing industrial contacts through NORA (National Oilheat Research Alliance). They have installed the equipment and have successfully demonstrated the use of different fuel compositions in heating. Viscosity of the fuel blends has been identified as a significant parameter in obtaining efficient combustion in the furnace. The polyurethane foam group has created prototype foams from finely ground soymeal from the FFF expeller process. These foams are currently being evaluated for ASTM physical properties. They have also solicited a potential industrial partner for these products. The genetics group has been active in shipping several different soybean types with significant compositional variations to be tested in the expelling/pressing process, and to produce raw materials for further products testing. They are currently planning on producing additional varieties for testing in the 2002-2003 growing season.

Impacts
The use of soybean oils and derivatives as replacements for petrochemical products and intermediates is a critical opportunity for agricultural rural development. The use of small scale extrusion-based processing hold the promise of rural scale industrialization to improve rural economics and vertical industrial integration in the rural environment. Our work to date has demonstrated technical feasibility for several products that will shortly be used to generate economic models for rural development feasibility.

Publications

  • No publications reported this period