Alfa Laval, Verenium extend joint venture

Posted Oct. 27, 2010

Enzyme developer Verenium has renewed and extended for five years its joint marketing agreement with Alfa Laval, the heat transfer, separation and fluid handling company, for its patented Purifine PLC enzyme. Under terms of the extended agreement, Alfa Laval will market Purifine PLC to edible oils processing customers in agreed territories and continue its efforts on developing the Purifine PLC enzymatic degumming process. The renewed agreement supersedes the initial agreement announced in early 2009.

"Our collaboration with Alfa Laval has been successful on a number of levels," said Janet Roemer, Verenium's president and chief operating officer. "In addition to expanding Purifine PLC's global market penetration, through working with Alfa Laval, we've also been able to enhance support of the Purifine PLC enzymatic degumming process. We look forward to building upon this successful collaboration as we work to secure continued growth for both businesses in the important global vegetable oil market."

According to Verenium, the company's Purifine PLC enzyme improves operating efficiency and reduces byproducts by allowing a higher percentage of the crude vegetable oil extracted from seeds to be recovered and converted into edible oil or biodiesel. In conventional processing, phospholipid impurities are removed as emulsified gums with an associated oil yield loss. Verenium's Purifine PLC enzyme works by reacting with the phospholipids releasing both the oil entrained in the gum and the oil component of the phospholipids. Compared to other degumming methods, oil yield losses are reduced by up to 75 percent using Purifine PLC enzymatic degumming, the company states, depending on the phospholipid content of the oil. Purifine PLC also offers significant benefits to the refining process by improving operating efficiency, and reducing the need for harsh chemicals and other processing aids.

"Alfa Laval is pleased to be able to extend our partnership with Verenium, which will allow us to continue to offer Purifine PLC's novel enzyme technology to the vegetable oil processing industry," said Bent Sarup, general manager for Alfa Laval's Vegetable Oil Technology Business. "Under the agreement, we expect to further enhance the value created for our customers through continuous process improvements of this technology."