Tulsion^® Specialty Ion Exchange resins for Biodiesel Purification / Biodiesel Polishing / B 100 Purification

Biodiesel, a clean burning fuel, is immerging as an alternate source to the fuel derived from petrochemical feedstock. It is non- toxic, biodegradable, and this renewable energy source is getting extremely popular across the globe.

Biodiesel manufacturing process:

Biodiesel manufacturing involves esterification of fatty acids and transesterification of triglycerides using various starting materials such as vegetable oils, waste cooking oils, animal fats etc. Trans-esterification is carried out in presence of methanol and catalysts; which yields raw biodiesel (methyl ester) and glycerin as principal products along with the soap, catalyst and methanol. This step is followed by bulk separation of the two distinct phases - Biodiesel (methyl ester) and Glycerin. The separated biodiesel (methyl ester) phase is then passed through specialized ion exchange resin column/s to remove impurities like glycerin, soaps and traces of catalyst, along with ionic salts to produce pure Biodiesel.

Highlights of Tulsion^® speciality resins for Biodiesel purification:

• Engineered to handle desired pressure drops and flow kinetics.
• Specifically designed pore size for effective processing of long chain hydrocarbons. (for Macroporous type)
• Highly compatible with variation in the process feed, temperature and pH.
• Treats diverse bio-diesel qualities originating from varied sources of triglycerides.
• Possibility exists to regenerate spent media thereby achieving lower process and disposal cost.
• Tulsion^® resins are being used as the initial media for new systems and have also successfully replaced competitive resins in existing resins.
• Simple and continuous process compared to messy water separation or other competing processes.

Operations with Tulsion^® Resins: Tulsion^® resins are user friendly and easy to handle while charging, during process operations, regeneration and unloading after exhaustion. Tulsion^® resins are thermally stable up to 120 0C (2500F) and can be regenerated with suitable quantity of MeOH. It is important to note that the Purification of methyl ester / B100 process stream with Tulsion^® resin is a polishing step. It is not a substitute or alternate for bulk phase separation of the methyl ester and glycerin. Tulsion^® biodiesel purification resins are the highly productive, most cost-effective polishers with proven track records across globe. Thermax offers expert advice in selection of appropriate Tulsion^® resins and operational guidelines. Samples for trials will be made available on request.