![[BioMatNet Database - Non-EC Activities]](../images/Other.gif) |
National Activities - UK
Sustainable Surfactants: Renewable Feedstocks for the 21st Century - Fats and oils as oleochemical raw materials |
Fats and oils as oleochemical raw materials - recent developments
and perspectives
Karlheinz Hill, Henkel KGaA, Dusseldorf
Summary
In concepts for new products the price, performance and
product safety criteria are equally important and have a correspondingly
high importance right at the start of product development. To ensure a
high degree of product safety for consumers and the environment renewable
resources have often been shown to have advantages when compared with
petrochemical raw materials and can therefore be regarded as being the
ideal raw material basis. Results from oleochemistry show that the use of
vegetable fats and oils, which depending on the targeted structure are
combined with other renewable resources or petrochemical raw materials,
allows the development of competitive, powerful products which are both
consumer-friendly and environmentally-friendly. Recent products which fit
this requirement profile are the non-ionic surfactant alkyl polyglycoside
from glucose and fatty alcohol and the anionic surfactants fatty alcohol
sulfate, cocomonoglyceride sulfate and protein-fatty acid condensate.
These products are used for choice in washing and cleansing agents and as
mild surfactants in cosmetic formulations.
Introduction
Vegetable oils and fats are important constituents
of human and animal foodstuffs. Certain grades are industrially used and
together with carbohydrates (cellulose, starch, saccharose from wood,
grain, sugar cane and sugar beet) and proteins from a vegetable or animal
source they are regarded as renewable resources, i.e. they are raw
materials which can be grown again in contrast to fossil and mineral raw
materials such as crude oil, coals, ores, etc. whose occurrence is limited
and finite.
In the following passages the conditions under which vegetable oils in particular, but also carbohydrates and proteins, can be industrially used in oleochemical applications will be indicated. Observations are made concerning the raw material situation and ecological compatibility aspects and the successful economic use of these renewable resources will be explained using current product innovations as examples.
Raw material situation (1,2)
The sources of oils and fats
are various vegetable and animal raw materials (e.g. tallow, lard) with
the vegetable raw materials soybean, palm, rapeseed and sunflower oils
being the most important regarding the amounts involved. The composition
of the fatty acids contained in the oil (fatty acid spectrum) is decisive
for the further use of the oils. Special attention must be given to
coconut oil and palm kernel oil (lauric oils) because of their high share
of fatty acids with a medium chain length (12 and 14 carbon atoms: C12,
C14). For example, these are particularly suitable for further processing
to surfactants for washing and cleansing agents as well as cosmetics. Palm
oils and oils from the typical European plants rapeseed and sunflower as
well as animal fats such as tallow contain mainly long-chain fatty acids
(e.g. C18).
Fats and oils are available in large amounts. The most important growth areas are listed in Table 1. In recent years the amounts produced have continuously increased by approx. 3% per year. Price development - similar to crude oil - has not been constant, but has sometimes undergone drastic changes. Parallel to the price increases in crude oil in the seventies caused by shortage of supply (oil crisis), price jumps in the fats and oils sector have also occurred; this has been particularly noticeable in the case of coconut oil which in those days was the most important source of short-chain fatty acids. In this market segment palm kernel oil, a second source of short-chain fatty acids, has had a stabilising effect as regards raw material availability and price. In the medium and long terms it must be assumed that fats and oils will be offered at competitive prices. The increasing demand will be met by the amounts produced, which are also increasing. (3, 4)
Of the approx. 100 million tonnes of fats and oils which were produced worldwide in 1997 by far the largest share was used in human foodstuffs. For oleochemistry 14 million tonnes were available. Henkel, as the largest processor of oils and fats for industrial use in the world, regards itself as being the company which refines these raw materials to produce high-quality products for a wide range of applications: for washing and cleansing agents, for cosmetics but, for example, also for ointment bases for the manufacture of pharmaceuticals and in the foodstuffs sector. Further products are used in the manufacture of dyes, adhesives, textiles, plastics and leather. The share of renewable resources of the total amount of raw materials used by Henkel is approx. 33% (compared to approx. 9% for the whole German chemical industry). Continued in Further Information
Contacts
Contact
Participant
Speaker
© Copyright 2006 Policy Statements
Updated
by CPL Press:
03/07/2007
- biomatnet@biomatnet.org
 |
 |
 |
News |
 |
Events |
|
|