Purolite And TransBiodiesel Sign Worldwide Agreement For Enzymatic Biodiesel Resin Technology

Enzymatic biodiesel technology offers significant operational and economic benefits over traditional trans-esterification processes

Bala Cynwyd, PA — Purolite and TransBiodiesel today announced a joint effort to manufacture and market enzyme loaded ion exchange resins to replace traditional trans-esterification processes.

"The biodiesel industry has been looking for a better way of converting oils and fats to biodiesel," said Don Brodie, Vice President of operations, Purolite. "With the introduction of this patent pending technology, significant economic and practical advantages are gained. Our enzyme loaded ion exchange resin replaces the use of sodium methylate and provides the simultaneous esterification of free fatty acid and trans-esterification of fats and oils. This enables biodiesel producers to overcome many of the downstream issues currently encountered."

Economics are improved in several ways. The resulting biodiesel is easy to separate from crude glycerin because of the absence of emulsifying soaps. Crude glycerin is significantly free of contaminants and can be more readily refined. The use of low grade oil feedstocks, especially those with Free Fatty Acid higher than 3% and even up to 100% can now be employed.

SOURCE: Purolite