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The Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (MINECO) grants more than one million euros to the University of Murcia (UMU) to develop a pilot plant that will allow biodiesel to be obtained from the tanning industry waste (treatment of animal skins)

The research group Green Chemical Process Engineering of the Faculty of Chemistry of UMU will launch this project, called ARVINA-BIOCOMBUSTIBILIS, to build a pilot plant with which to transform fatty residues of animal origin into biofuel.

With this ambitious project, there are many challenges, including not only the production of biofuel, but also the reduction of CO2 emissions and the recovery of SANDACH waste (animal by-products not intended for human consumption), which until now had a scarce Commercial travel, such as egg shell and residues from the tanning industry.

Biofuel from an innovative process

The new biodiesel will be generated by transesterification of a very acid animal fat with supercritical methanol.

It should be remembered that a fluid is in the supercritical state when it is subjected to pressures and temperatures above its critical point, which makes it behave like "a hybrid between a liquid and a gas."

A supercritical fluid can diffuse through solids like a gas and dissolve substances like a liquid.

"An innovative aspect of the project is to combine the action of supercritical methanol with the use of structured heterogeneous catalysts," explains Joaquín Quesada, principal investigator of the project, who emphasizes that this combination is one of the keys to the success of a project that will, Among other things, soften the operating conditions of the process.

The conventional industrial process of biodiesel production requires the use of homogeneous catalysts, which give rise to the formation of soaps during the reaction.

These soaps have to be removed by washing, generating polluting effluents, which is a great inconvenience.

However, according to the UMU researcher, "the use of structured heterogeneous catalysts with improved catalytic activity does not lead to the formation of soaps, thereby minimizing the emission of contaminating effluents and improving the quality of the product ".

In addition, another advantage of the heterogeneous catalysts compared to the homogeneous catalysts is that they can be reused.

The heterogeneous catalysts to be used in this project will be obtained from an abundant solid residue generated in the egg-producing industry: the eggshell, which is usually destined for landfill.

Why is it so important to invest in biodiesel?

When the consumer replaces diesel at any European gas station, what he is actually refueling is diesel with a maximum biodiesel content of 7%.

European legislation obliges to include biodiesel in diesel.

Currently the production of biodiesel is carried out from vegetable oils and refined animal fats, which are expensive.

Therefore, it is important to search for new sources of cheaper raw materials and the development of novel processing technologies for a cheaper production of biodiesel.

The conventional industrial biodiesel production process does not allow to treat directly a low quality raw material, as it is the case of the residual fat that will be used in this project and which has a very high acidity (up to 30%).

However, the supercritical process combined with the heterogeneous catalysts will allow the direct and efficient transformation of this cheap raw material into biodiesel.

The plant will be ready in 2019

The research group has already begun trials of biodiesel synthesis in the laboratory and promising results are expected.

The final aim of this project, which will be completed in September 2019, is the design, assembly and set up of a pilot plant that will use supercritical technology for the production of biodiesel.

At the moment, no decision has yet been taken on the location of the pilot plant.

This project is environmentally friendly since it is intended to treat industrial grease of low commercial value, minimize the emission of contaminating effluents, use reusable heterogeneous catalysts from egg shell residues and reduce CO2 emissions, with the consequent Mitigation of the greenhouse effect.

ARVINA-BIOCOMBUSTIBILIS counts on the collaboration of two companies (Beta Renowable Group, SA and Biotannery Lorca, SL), two public centers (Institute of Chemical Technology of the CSIC-UPV and University of Murcia) and a technological center And Leisure, AIJU).

The consortium of these five entities has obtained a grant of € 1,007,407.35 from the Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness through the State Program for Research, Development and Innovation Oriented to the Challenges of the Society.

Source: Universidad de Murcia