A Latvian university offers technology to develop advanced biodiesel

Summary

A Latvian university is engaged in the commercialization of its own scientific and technical developments. Among them the University provides the technology to develop advanced biodiesel from residual soap stock (SS) of oil production set. Partners are sought to conclude a license agreement.

Description

The university is one of the leading scientific institutions in Baltics. It is purposefully developing to become a third-generation type university, which provides not only high-quality education, but also an excellent research and valorisation - innovation and technology transfer, thus putting scientific achievements into practice.

The university offers an innovative technology that allows to obtain advanced biodiesel in an innovative way, using the soapstock residue obtained in the vegetable oil production process as a feedstock.
The technology involves modernized production stages, combined in an original reaction scheme, providing for more environmentally friendly and efficient use of catalysts and reagents, optimal temperature and duration of the reaction, allowing the production of quality biodiesel with a renewable content of yield over 90%.

It has fully demonstrated its performance Technology Readiness Level 5 (TRL), and a reasonable plan has been developed for its validation within the project up to TRL7 (till December 2021), which would be sufficient for the technology to be successfully commercialized.

Innovation of the technology is more efficient ways of producing advanced biodiesel from the soapstock - improved and modernized production stages and an original way of merging these stages into a common response scheme, allowing for an increase in the yield of the target product and its quality - biodiesel with a renewable component content 100 % above 90%, which complies with the standard EN 14214.

The university is looking for foreign partners such as biodiesel and vegetable-edible oil producers to conclude license agreements. The partners will be provided with all the knowledge and rights to use this product, based on agreements.

Advantages & innovations

The advantages of the proposed technology are the following: 1) the inclusion of two options in the technological scheme, allowing the use of a different composition soapstock as a raw material and different technologies and infrastructure, ensuring the most economically advantageous type of production without or with insignificant capital investments in the existing infrastructure. 2) the technology aims to ensure the production of renewable advanced biodiesel with a high content of renewable components - above 90%; from waste. 3) energy efficiency and lower environmental impact of the technology: (a) lower temperatures are required at production stages and their implementation times are shorter, the biodiesel refining phase is optimized and will require less water. (b) catalysts, reagents, solvents that are more efficient and have a lower environmental impact will be used. 4) cost price - using the new technology, the cost price of advanced biodiesel from SS will be only 55% -60% of the cost price of conventional biodiesel obtained from rapeseed oil.

Stage of development

Prototype available for demonstration

Contact/ source: Enterprise Europe Network (europa.eu)