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2006-10-23 News Release

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Ion exchange resins absorb impurities in biodiesel production

The sodium form of the sulfonate anchor groups that ion exchange resins contain can adsorb the chemical compounds of glycerine and other impurities in biodiesel production.

Biodiesel is becoming increasingly popular, particularly among trucking companies. According to the Biodiesel Quality Management Association e.V. (AGQM), biodiesel still has a price advantage in spite of the introduction of the tax levy of nine cent per liter on August 1, 2006. Production of the “green” fuel is considerably simplified by the Lewatit* K 2567 ion exchange resin from LANXESS. This helps in an environmentally friendly and efficient way to free the raw product, made from renewable raw materials, of components that damage the engine. The Ion Exchange Resins business unit of LANXESS belongs to the Performance Chemicals segment.

Find Information and Suppliers of ion exchangers.

“Many people today still associate the term ‘ion exchanger’ with water treatment or demineralizing applications,” says Dr. Stefan Neumann, ion exchanger expert at LANXESS. “It’s true that around 70 percent of all ion exchange resins go to this sector, but there are many other applications, of which biodiesel production is one example.”

Smart chemistry for “green” fuel Biodiesel production greatly simplified. Click Go for High resolution image. photo: LANXESS

There is virtually no other brand in the field of ion exchange resins for which research, development and analytics are actively carried out to such a vast extent as with Lewatit*. LANXESS is represented with own ion exchange resins labs in all key economic regions of the world, laboratories in Japan, the United States and particularly the central laboratory in Leverkusen playing the main role. The ION EXCHANGE RESINS business unit of LANXESS Deutschland GmbH, provides state-of-the-art ion exchange resins and adsorbers with tailor-made processes, geared specifically to the particular application.

Provided a vehicle is approved for this fuel, biodiesel is today (almost) a fuel like any other. High quality is ensured by, for example, the strict EN 14214 European standard. This stipulates that biodiesel may only contain very limited quantities of (corrosive) water and that salts and ash, which could be deposited in the engine, may only be found in trace amounts. Free glycerine may also only occur in minimal quantities, due to its alloy degrading properties. “This is a major challenge because vegetable oils, from which biodiesel is obtained, for the most part involve chemical compounds of glycerine that are split by transesterification,” explains Neumann. This chemical reaction results in raw biodiesel – fatty acid methyl ester – and glycerine. This separation process is laborious when using conventional technology and generates organically contaminated wastewater.

“However, ion exchangers enable challenges such as this to be tackled in an extremely elegant way,” says Neumann. “Our acid ion exchange resin Lewatit K 2567 was the solution in this case. The sodium form of the sulfonate anchor groups it contains can adsorb glycerine and other impurities highly effectively.”

In general use, biodiesel production supported by Lewatit K 2567 takes the following form. Firstly, fatty acid glycerol esters are converted into low-viscosity methyl esters by conventional means. Most of the glycerine involved is physically separated; precision cleaning is then performed at 30 to 40 degrees Celsius in ion exchanger columns. Throughput is typically around four cubic meters per hour for a resin volume of 2 to 3 m³. Initially, glycerine content in the raw methyl ester fraction is still around 500 ppm. Less than ten ppm, equivalent to 0.001 percent by weight, is measured after passage through the column. “This value is well below the 200 ppm required by the standard,” concludes Neumann. Ash and alkalinity can then be removed using a different ion exchanger grade (Lewatit* CNP 80).

LANXESS ion exchangers not only work highly effectively; they also remove amazingly large quantities of glycerine from the raw product. One liter of Lewatit* K 2567 has an operating capacity of approx. 180 grams of glycerine. A resin bed with a 2 m³ volume does not therefore need to be regenerated until after around 700 cubic meters of biodiesel have been processed, which in practice means roughly once a week. Neumann explains: “Regeneration is simple. It is sufficient to flush the column with two bedfuls of methanol, which takes around one hour. Afterwards, things can continue right away.”

The benefits of using ion exchangers are obvious. Compared to conventional methods, this process works without generating wastewater. The systems are also compact and their simple structure means they are resistant to malfunction and do not require intensive maintenance. The process has already demonstrated its industrial-scale capability, with ion exchangers from LANXESS already in operation at leading biodiesel production plants with capacities of up to 300,000 tons a year.

* Lewatit is a registered trademark of LANXESS AG.

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