In 2008, Seattle-based process and design engineering firm E3 Energy Partners began to see a new trend forming in the biodiesel industry. Plant sizes were trending downward and desired free fatty acid (FFA) levels in feedstock were trending upward. Once it became clear that development of new 30, 50 and 100 MMgy biodiesel facilities was over, or at least on indefinite hold, E3 Energy Partners began a research project to identify processes capable of managing higher FFA feedstocks for production of biodiesel; and if possible, companies on the market that had a head start on commercializing these processes and related technologies.
After a year of searching and testing, and with the assistance of Swedish colleagues and the U.S. Ambassador to Sweden, E3 Energy Partners discovered the Swedish biodiesel manufacturing firm Ageratec. Although relatively unknown in North America, Ageratec, with its family of modular processors capable of producing 180,000 gallons to 9 MMgy, is well positioned to serve the evolving North American biodiesel industry. Ageratec had developed and released a modular biodiesel processor with integrated acid esterification, which enabled the processor to accept feedstocks up to 10 percent FFA content. Without a pretreatment process such as esterification, traditional biodiesel processors would create soap from feedstocks with FFA content above 1 to 2 percent.
In early 2009, E3 Energy Partners and Ageratec entered into a market and technology partnership to bring the Swedish firm's modular biodiesel systems to North America for biodiesel operations using virgin oil, used cooking oil, yellow grease and animal fat. Currently, Ageratec has more than 10 systems in North and South America.
While E3 Energy Partners and Ageratec were working to meet the demand of production facilities using feedstock with 10 percent FFA content, requests for processing feedstocks with FFA content up to 100 percent began coming through the door. These feedstocks included yellow grease to 15 percent FFA, brown grease to 80 percent FFA, and fatty acid distillates from palm and soy vegetable oil refineries. Since FFA levels exceeded 10 percent, traditional esterification of the FFA component was not viable and a new solution was needed.
At the same time, E3 Energy Partners' chemical engineering team had been exploring the use of standard oleo-chemical processes from the food processing industry that forms glycerides (oils) from fatty acids. The result was a solution that converted very high FFA feedstocks into oils suitable for processing inside most standard base-catalyzed biodiesel processors already installed and on the market today.
Ageratec and E3 Energy Partners have expanded their partnership into development of a new a modular biodiesel processor capable of processing biodiesel feedstocks up to 100 percent FFA. Lending itself to the conservative nature of biodiesel investors in today's business climate is the benefit that the process has already been in use for more than 70 years at food processing facilities worldwide. Simply put, the process reforms the FFA material into mono and di-glyceride oils that are run through the transesterification process to make biodiesel. The largest consumable in the process is heat. Otherwise, the process relies on FFA feedstock, crude glycerin and a small amount of a standard catalyst. It runs at 99.8 percent efficiency in FFA conversion and delivers dry oil due to water evaporation over the span of the processing period.
Ageratec and E3 Energy Partners are finding strongest interest for this solution in the trap and brown grease, and the palm and soy fatty acid, processing industries. Brown grease and fatty acid distillates are rich in free fatty acids, while also carrying lower market prices, which make them attractive biodiesel feedstocks.
With all silver linings come a few issues. For fatty acid distillates, the material is solid to 130 degrees Fahrenheit and feels like a hard, waxy candle. Heat tracing the entire system is mandatory to prevent pipes, pumps and heat exchangers from clogging. Trap and brown grease offer a host of other issues. Trap grease––the residual fats, oils and greases that have come in contact with water and are intercepted before they enter sewer or septic systems––is collected from food processing and preparation locations, including restaurants. Brown grease is rendered trap. Rendering includes the removal of water, sulfur, phosphate and the filtration and neutralization of residual fats, oils and greases. E3 Energy Partners and Ageratec have received a large amount of fatty acid distillate and brown grease samples from around the world. The resulting biodiesel meets ASTM specifications, with the exception of oxidative stability and sulfur or phosphate content. These issues have been resolved with additives for stability and additional pretreatment steps for sulfur and phosphate removal.
Historical Acumen
Ageratec, an original equipment manufacturer, originated in 1996 when David Fryker?•s from the oil and gas industry realized the potential for biodiesel in the local canola farming community. He brought in his father, Gert Fryker?•s, from the pulp and paper sector and they leveraged their combined experience in automation and process technology to create a fully automated biodiesel production plant that could be operated by someone who doesn't need a doctorate in chemistry. The first prototype was delivered in 1998 to a farm outside of Norrköping, Sweden, to make biodiesel to power tractors and farm machines from locally grown canola oil. Targeting the Swedish local agribusiness and canola back then, today the only heritage left is the prefabricated automated modular concept. The plants shipped today are 100-fold the first size, and are built for industrial scale processing of inedible low-cost fats, oils and grease with high FFA content.
Today investors or plant owners looking to procure greenfield or brownfield projects have an array of vendors to choose from, especially in the sub-10 MMgy segment. A majority of these companies, however, are either start-ups with little or no history of operations, or are unable to provide meaningful performance guarantees due to their weak balance sheets and/or construction partners. With Ageratec's heritage in the established oil and gas and pulp and paper industries, it sees the real challenge of this new decade as biofuel industries being able to rise to the occasion to offer venture capitalists and industrialists the same degree of consolidated vendor scene as these industries enjoyed during the latter half of the 20th century. The plethora of superlatives in the area of esterification and purification adds to the inflated impression one receives when making crucial decisions for one´s investment.
With the short history of the biodiesel industry functioning as an industry, a matter of years makes for a giant leap in process technology. In 2005, Ageratec developed and patented water-free wash chemistry. Next came its mechanical purification technology, which was further enhanced by deploying the high-speed separator technology developed by Alfa Laval. In 2006, largely influenced by the food vs. fuel debate and demand for inedible oil processing, Ageratec introduced front-end esterification pretreatment, which has been included on Ageratec plants as an integral part ever since. Ageratec delivered its 40th industrial plant in 2007, and celebrated the shipping of a new plant every 10 days, which led to the inauguration of a new 17,000 square-foot factory in Norrköping. By 2008, Ageratec´s separator developments had caught Alfa Laval´s attention leading to Ageratec becoming part of the Alfa Laval Group, with Alfa Laval becoming a majority stake holder in the company. By 2009, Ageratec sold more than 70 plants and participated in projects all over the world including Scandinavia, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, North America, South America, Asia Pacific and Africa.
Mechanical Biodiesel Purification Station
Ageratec's patent revolves around the refining agent ACA90, which is slightly acidic in order to neutralize the biodiesel. The liquid solution also contains an inorganic chelating agent, which combines with impurities in the biodiesel, such as traces of phospholipids and others, to produce large, dense gum-like complexes referred to as sludge, which is easily removed by a separator. When forming, the complexes become slightly negatively charged and therefore attract counter ions (i.e., metals) in order to balance the negative charge. So, apart from the general neutralizing effect, the refining agent also acts as cation reducer and further refining is therefore unnecessary. The amount of refining agent needed for the neutralizing effect is typically around 0.4 to 0.6 percent by weight.
The adage "The Stone Age did not end because the cave men ran out of stones" should be remembered in the challenging times our young industry is experiencing. Big Oil has yet to draw that conclusion, still the biofuels industry can learn from that sector by consolidating with a legacy for a different kind of expertise and tailored solutions matched to feedstock and plant situations. The "jack of all trades" is not realistic for a maturing biofuel industry of the new decade. The availability of established OEM prefabricated plant technology to pick from in the toolbox while designing a project will be what determines the success of gradual take over from Big Oil´s heritage.
Rich Bacigalupi is a principal with E3 Energy Partners. Reach him at (206) 462-3601 or richb@e3energypartners.com. Ulf Johansson is sales manager with Ageratec. Reach him at ulf.johansson@ageratec.com.