Spain discovers Biodiesel
For wine lovers, it is an El Dorado. The province La Rioja is the epitome of Spanish wine growing. The capital of the province La Rioja is Logroño, which is located along the northern border of the province, directly next to the Basque Country, around 100 km from the Atlantic coast.
Approximately East of Logroño in Calahorra, Initiativas Bioenergeticas last year commissioned a new biodiesel installation with an annual capacity of 250,000 tonnes using the tried-and-tested CD method (continuous deglycerolisation). At the point at which construction commenced, it was the most powerful installation which had come from the house of GEA Westfalia Separator.
Contents
Biodiesel - sustainable power supply instrument
The location Logroño / Calahorra is now the fifth biodiesel installation which GEA Westfalia Separator has set up in Spain as a complete installation, and it is the ninth complete installation world-wide. With the core process of transesterification alone, there are now more than two dozen installations throughout the world. They operate not only in Europe but also (and primarily) in North and South America as well as Asia. Five additional installations are already in the planning stage for 2010. This trend shows that biodiesel is not a one-hit wonder, and is instead a sustainable power supply instrument.
Complete process technology from a single source
Everything started in 1996 with the first large-scale biodiesel installation with a 120,000 tonne annual capacity in the German oil mill Leer, the location of the CD process licensor Dr Connemann. In 1997, the oil mill was acquired by ADM, one of the largest vegetable oil producers in the world.
Today, in its capacity as a licensee, GEA Westfalia Separator is able to supply the process technology in virtually complete form. The oil pre-cleaning unit is a key element of the GEA Westfalia Separator technology. This comprises special pre-treatment with de-gumming and alcoholic neutralisation of the original oil. The by-products of transesterification are used in order to clean the oil in this process. This elegant method is used for reducing power consumption in the process and also reduces the input of raw materials, thus improving efficiency. The core process then runs fully automatically and continuously with two-stage transesterification with simultaneous reaction and separation as well as subsequent centrifugal removal of the glycerine phase, followed by glycerine water processing, methanol recovery and glycerine water evaporation. The byproduct glycerine, which is obtained in this process, is extremely pure, and can be used in pharmaceutical applications or as a fuel.
The scope of supply also includes the entire installation control unit and commissioning as well as an engineering package which enables the customer to set up the complete biodiesel installation. GEA Westfalia Separator thus specialises in the biodiesel core process and pre-treatment of the oil, but does not handle the construction of the building shell, the construction of the tank installation as well as glycerine distillation and bleaching.
Great oil yield, low waste
The biodiesel obtained with the CD process fully complies with the EU standard EN 14214, and also provides extremely low readings for acid, free glycerine content and alkaline metals. A further advantage: apart from the gums from the de-gumming process and a certain amount of excess water, no waste is produced in the fully integrated process. The strain imposed on the environment is accordingly low, and the oil yield is even higher with relatively low steam consumption. The CD process is suitable for operation sizes of between 35,000 and 450,000 tonnes per year. The larger the installation, the more efficiently is the process able to operate.
Biodiesel makes sense, also globally
In recent years, there has been increasing criticism levelled at biodiesel as one of the causes of world hunger. In order to combat this problem increasing use is now being made of raw materials which do not compete with food for humans. These include oils which are produced from specially cultivated plants in desert-like areas of the world, such as Jatropha and castor oil. Examples of other raw materials are meat and edible offal such as animal fats or waste products such as spent oils and fats.
Healthy mix, suitable for the energy market
Biodiesel is an environmentally friendly fuel which is obtained from sustainable raw materials; it is biodegradable, non-toxic and is not responsible for high levels of sulphur emissions. The major advantage of biodiesel is that it can be used in almost every Diesel vehicle, and can also be used as an admixture in all Diesel engines without any problems. Biodiesel continues to be able to make a meaningful contribution to the energy market in future. This is because, as is always the case in life, a healthy mix of different energy media is the most sensible solution.