Progress 05/15/06 to 05/14/07
Outputs
In this Phase I SBIR project we are developing and evaluating a new catalytic process for producing alkyl esters from high free fatty acid feedstocks. Because this process will tolerate high levels of free fatty acids, it will be able to use lower cost feedstock, and a wider variety of feedstock materials including inedible vegetable and animal oils. The proposed process uses two main steps. The first step is the hydrolysis of the triglyceride fraction of the oil to free fatty acids and glycerol and the second step is the direct esterification of the free fatty acids with alcohol to form the alkyl ester biodiesel product. Based on our results to date we have refined the process design and have determined several process designs with reaction conditions that are technically feasible and also illustrated some that are not technically feasible due to equilibrium limitations. In future reporting periods we will down-select from the possible processes to identify the most
favorable one to focus on in Phase II. TDA Research has had initial discussions with Imperium Renewables (Seattle, WA) on how we can collaborate together on this and future R&D projects to develop and commercialize new biodiesel processes. Imperium is currently operating a 5 MMGy pilot plant and is building a 100 MMGy biodiesel plant in Washington State and will soon be the largest biodiesel producer in the United States. TDA and Imperium will soon sign a CDA and begin more detailed discussions regarding the technology of this project. The process we are developing is well suited for using polymeric solid acid catalysts due to the need for low temperature acid activity. Current polymer acid catalysts, such as Amberlyst-15, effectively catalyze both hydrolysis and esterification reactions, but improved ester selectivity, yield, and acid site thermal stability (life-time) are needed to make such a hydrolysis and esterification biodiesel production process economical. Thus, we are using
a newly developed nanostructured solid acid polymer catalyst that has demonstrated excellent performance for esterification reactions. The nanostructured polymer catalyst contains highly regular nanopores that have a geometry similar to MCM-type catalysts. They also contain more thermally stable acid sites and should tolerate higher operating conditions than Amberlyst 15, which has an upper limit of 120 degrees C. In this SBIR Phase I project we are testing both the nanostructured polymer catalysts and Amberlyst resins for the hydrolysis and direct esterification reactions. For direct esterification, this new catalyst has demonstrated faster reaction kinetics and higher product yields than Amberlyst at the same operating conditions. By the end of the Phase I project we will have fully characterized our nanostructured polymer catalysts for the new biodiesel production process. We will generate preliminary process designs and our analysis will include an engineering and economic
analysis to determine cost and energy savings benefits of our process compared to the conventional base-catalyzed biodiesel production process.
Impacts
This project could help to expand the domestic biodiesel production capacity and therefore lower our Nation's greenhouse gas emissions and dependence on foreign oil. The use of biodiesel does not contribute to global warming and also provides enhanced economic opportunities for rural America. Biodiesel not only reduces CO2 emissions, but it also significantly reduces sulfur emissions.
Publications
- The following United States subject patent application was supported at least in part by this USDA SBIR grant: Methods of Making Alkyl Esters, U.S. Patent Application Serial No. 11/744,693, filed in the USPTO on May 4th, 2007.
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