Alternative Processing Technology for Converting Vegetable Oils and Animal Fats to Clean Fuels and Light Olefins

Since the production cost of biodiesel is now the main hurdle limiting their applicability in some areas, catalytic cracking reactions represent an alternative route to utilization of vegetable oils and animal fats. Hence, catalytic transformation of oils and fats was carried out in a laboratory-scale two-stage riser fluid catalytic cracking （TSRFCC） unit in this work. The results show that oils and fats can be used as FCC feed singly or co-feeding with vacuum gas oil （VGO）, which can give high yield （by mass）of liquefied petroleum gas （LPG）, C2-C4 oletms, tor example 45% LPG, 47% C2-C4 olefins, and 77.6% total liquid yield produced with palm oil cracking. Co-feeding with VGO gives a high yield of LPG （39.1%） and propylene （18.1%）. And oxygen element content is very low （about 0.5%） in liquid products, hence, oxygen is removed in the form of H2O, CO and CO2. At the same time, high concentration of aromatics （C7-C9 aromatics predominantly） in the gasoline fraction is obtained after TSRFCC reaction of palm oil, as a result of large amount of hydrogen-transfer, cyclization and aromatization reactions, Additionally, most of properties of produced gasoline and diesel oil fuel meet the requirements of national standards, containing little sulfur. So TSRFCC technology is thought to be an alternative processing technology leading to production of clean fuels and light olefins.

Prediction of Concentration of Animal Fat in Mixture with Vegetable Oil by Multivariate Calibration Associated with Spectrofluorimetry

Total spectrofluorimetry associated with Principal Component Analysis (PCA) was used to discriminate samples of vegetable oil and animal fat. In addition, a multivariate calibration model was developed that combines spectroflurimetry with Partial Least Squares (PLS) for prediction of concentration of animal fat in mixture with vegetable oil. The multivariate calibration model had an R2 value of 0.98098, which indicates the accuracy of the model. This method has potential application in the control of quality of raw material for production of biodiesel. The control of the concentration of animal fat is important because animal fat is more susceptible to oxidation than vegetable oil. Furthermore, high concentrations of animal fats may increase electricity costs for biodiesel production due to the high melting points of saturated fats that solidify at room temperature and cause the fouling and clogging of pipes.

Process Optimization for Biodiesel Production from Animal Fat via Two-Step Catalyzed Process

The main propose of this research was to develop a two-step biodiesel production technique from animal fat as a raw material. The developed process consists ofesterification and transesterification steps. With special attention to optimize the first step is acid catalyzed esterification to reduce free fatty acid content and the second step is alkali catalyzed transesterification for converting triglyceride to fatty acid methyl ester or biodiesel. Animal fat containing 78.80 mg KOH/g of high acid value and molecular weight of 851 g/mol with the highest oleic acid content was used as raw material. Respond surface methodology （RSM） was applied for the experiment design. This were 20 experiments involving the three investigated variables of methanol to animal fat ratio, amount of sulfuric acid catalyst and reaction time that were studied on esterification to optimize the condition for decreasing acid value in animal fat less than 2 mg KOH/g. The animal fat with low acid value was further experimented in transesterification step to obtain fatty acid methyl ester or biodiesel. Animal fat biodiesel is further investigated by determining its fuel properties according to the ASTM standard test method.

Discriminant analysis of terrestrial animal fat and oil adulteration in fish oil by infrared spectroscopy

In order to improve the effective utilization of animal fats and oils,and then ensure the feeding quality and safety in the field of animal husbandry engineering,the discriminant analysis of different species of terrestrial animal fats and oils in fish oil based on Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy was explored in this study.Twenty-seven different species of animal fat and oil materials including fish oil,lard,chicken oil,tallow and suet were studied.The experimental calibration and validation samples were prepared by adulterating different proportions of terrestrial fat and oil in fish oil.Results show that,it is easy to discriminate different species of raw material of fish oil,lard,chicken oil and ruminant fats based on the infrared spectral characteristics,while the distinction of tallow from suet samples is difficult.For the adulterated samples with percentage range of 1%-60%(w/w),ideal results were obtained to discriminate the terrestrial fat and oil ingredients(lard,chicken oil,tallow and suet)in fish oil,the correct discriminant rates for the independent validation set were all higher than 95%.It was proved by further study that the detection limits for the discriminant analysis of lard,chicken oil,tallow and suet in fish oil were 0.8%,0.6%,2%and 3%,respectively.

Developing ISO International Standards for the Animal and Vegetable Fats and Oils Sector

Increasing volumes of oils and fats are produced annually with a large section that are traded internationally. The International Organization for Standardization(ISO) body develops international standards covering almost all aspects of technology and manufacturing with 23,882 standards currently published. Standards in the animal and vegetable fats and oils sector is developed by Technical Committee ISO/TC 34, Food products, Subcommittee SC 11, Animal and vegetable fats and oils. Standards are developed through consensus by national members that represent ISO in their country. Each Standard is developed within a determined timeframe and goes through various pre-determined stages such as project proposal, development, national voting and commenting on the draft Standard to final publication. ISO TC34/SC11 Standards range from sampling of oils and fats, sample preparation to analysis of its composition, the minor components, and quality and identity parameters as well as contaminants. The analysis results are used by industry for product development, labelling, research and to provide peace of mind for consumers on its safety. An important future trend is the focus on the safety concerns from either environmental contamination(e.g. mineral oils) or processing contaminants such as esters of 3-MCPDs(3-monochloropropane-1,2-diol or 3-chloropropane-1,2-diol).