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FAIR-CT97-3884
CTVO-NET: Chemical-technical utilisation of vegetable oils - 1998 Workshops |
Introduction
With an estimated annual consumption of 2.6 million tons, natural fats and oils are among the main biological raw materials for chemical and technical applications in Europe. Oils and fats or their derivatives can be found in many industrial and consumer products. The EC has recognised the importance of this sector and support R&D activities along the whole production and processing chain. To find new market outlets for natural oils and fats, requires co-ordination of activities and exchange of information. This concerted action ( FAIR-CT97-3884) aims to do this, mainly though organisation of workshops covering specific market sectors. This page reports on the first two workshops, held in late 1998. Workshops 3 and 4 are described in Further Information.
The First Workshop - SurfactantsThe First Workshop - Surfactants
Organised by FNR.
The CTVO-Net workshop on surfactants was held at the end of September 1998, organised by the project co-ordinators, in Gulzow, Germany. Surfactants are one of the major market outlets for natural fats and oils. In contrast to other chemical products, natural raw materials have never lost their importance for the manufacture of surfactants. The workshop covered the following aspects regarding surfactants:
The workshop had 23 participants, coming from 9 different European countries (France, United Kingdom, Spain, Italy, Denmark, Sweden, Belgium, Switzerland and Germany). 15 participants came from industry, representing the majority of oleochemical producers in Europe.
The material arising from this workshop is reproduced unedited from the originals submitted by the authors and consist to a large extent of reproductions of slides and overheads. This information was brought together in the final discussion session, that highlighted the topics as covered by the presentations. This section includes the following remarks and conclusions.
Raw materials. As far as competition In relation to the competition with petrochemical feed-stocks, it was clear that the decision to switch from petrochemical to natural feed-stocks, depends on price as well as the individual policies and marketing strategy of the company concerned. In some cases there are additional technical or performance reasons. Industry does not doubt the availability of mineral oil in the future; it is convinced that the last litre of oil will not be burned, but used in chemistry.
As far as raw materials are concerned, surfactants can be based on starches, sugars and natural fats and oils. For natural fats and oils, there is the choice between animal fats such as tallow, lard or fish oil, and vegetable oils. Animal fats have the advantage that they are mainly by-products; so there is some security of supply and prices are attractive. Reflecting public attitude towards animal fats in part, fish oil is no longer used as an oleochemical feed-stock, while tallow is steadily loosing its importance. In contrast vegetable oils (80% of the worlds marketed fats and oils) are gaining in industrial use, with about 14% used in the chemical industry.
Geographical origin is not important for the oleochemical industry, most companies active in this field are international in character, and many have established oleochemical plants in South East Asia (SEA), especially Malaysia (the major producer of palm oils).
One topic which is under continuing discussion is the support for European oilseed and non-food production under the reformed agricultural policy within Agenda 2000. In general, the workshop participants from industry did not see a need for agricultural subsidies to secure the supply of the oleochemical industry. However, the surfactants manufacturers are interested in oil quality improvements, where much of the breeding work relates to agricultural practice and food needs. The question of whether to pay more for a high quality raw material or to have more processing steps has to be decided on a case by case basis. Most of the participants felt it is more promising to find new processes and applications for feed-stocks which are available in reliable quantities and at reasonable prices than to investigate new, 'exotic' oilseeds. An example of the successful introduction of new oil qualities (in a conventional oilseed crop) is high oleic sunflower-seed. Here, a market potential of 150.000 tons per year is seen in Europe.
The main supply of lauric oils origins from coconut and palm-kernel oil from South East Asia. Currently a major part of the palm kernels, which are a by-product of palm oil production, is not extracted. So palm kernels could offer a substantial additional supply of lauric oil at competitive prices. Rapeseed is a good source of varying oil qualities and has the advantage that the oil composition can be manipulated relatively easily by using genetic engineering. High lauric acid rapeseed, developed mainly by Calgene Inc., is an example of an interesting feed-stock for oleochemistry. However, high prices and low myristic acid (C 14:0) content reduced it attractiveness, therefore the oil is used as a cocoa butter substitute market.
Synthesis Processing through fatty alcohols is the most common synthesis route for both ionic and non-ionic surfactants, (used for about 80%). Surfactants may also be produced from fatty acids, fatty acid methyl esters, epoxydized oils or directly from vegetable oils. At present, in the UK for example, the vegetable-fatty alcohol capacity is increasing constantly, whilst the petrochemical capacity is more or less stable. While, enzymatic synthesis methods are useful in relation to low reaction temperatures, odour, and colour of the surfactants produced, problems remain in scaling-up.
Environment In this area there is a need to compare surfactants based either on natural oils or on fossil feed-stocks. Here, results of the Life Cycle Inventory are mainly based on the European Surfactant Study of the Ecosol Group of the European Chemical Manufacturers Association. It is not easy to clearly rank different raw materials and surfactants, as chemical composition and the functions they fulfil in their applications are different. However, vegetable oil based surfactants may have several advantages:
In particular it was stressed that the environmental effects depend on the chemical structure, not on the origin of the raw material. One good example is the replacement of ethylenoxide by glycerol, leading to a 100 % natural, but not sufficiently biodegradable surfactant. The question is addressed in an ongoing research project funded under the FAIR programme ( FAIR-CT97-1829).
The relevance of eco-labelling is variable from country to country. Sweden has introduced the 'White Swan' label a couple of years ago, where the formulation has to be based on renewable resources, but also the performance has to be acceptable. In contrast, Germany's 'Green Frog' focuses at the formulation, irrespective of raw material. The European detergent label was issued 2 years ago, but no one has applied for it so far.
A specific problem occurs for the manufacturers of consumer products: They have to rely on the fatty alcohol manufacturers and their choice of raw materials - their own influence is limited. In addition, they are often smaller companies than there raw material suppliers thus possessing only a limited market power. The complexity of replacing surfactants well established in the market is shown by the example of nonylphenolethoxylates. Despite excellent performance, they show poor environmental results. The replacement of NPE has not been solved up to now as the aromaticity is an important quality feature. Just for some applications an environmental more friendly solution has been found. NPEs are banned in Western Europe, but are still accepted in the US. This makes the decision of a company to switch to another product even more difficult.
The industrial participants in the workshops felt that Life Cycle Analysis should better be carried out by external bodies or by EU projects than by the industries themselves, because LCA results might be better accepted. Industry has the impression that the objectivity of LCAs prepared by industry is sometimes doubted by the public. Irrespective of their origin, LCAs have high data requirements and are expensive. The precision of results does not always fulfil the expectations. Some organisations, e.g. the French standardisation body AFNOR, seem to have given up LCA, with other environmental evaluation methods are requested. It was also considered useful to lobby governments to conduct ring tests for the different test methods of environmental behaviour of surfactants. Industry feels that there is a need to improve the standardisation of these test methods to provide a better comparability of the test results and the figures.
Applications Applications need to be considered in terms of cost-benefit relations. The demand for vegetable oil based (vob) surfactants depends heavily on the application. Whilst consumers request vob surfactants in the cosmetic sector, e.g. alkyl sulfates, the consumer pressure in industrial applications is limited. In general, the cheapest raw material will be purchased if it has the structure and properties desired. The surfactant market increasing in size, with a trend towards higher performance materials, the added value is increasing. Customers also have the choice between 100 % (e.g. APG) and semi natural surfactants. A general trend is towards non-ionics and polymer surfactants. As far as phosphate esters are concerned, no push for vegetable oil based feed-stocks was foreseen. Mineral oil will remain the main raw material for these surfactants.
Future research needs During discussion the following issues were raised:
The Second Workshop - Paints and Coatings
Organised by: ACTIN, UK
The second workshop was organised by one of the participants of the network (ACTIN), in London (UK), in November 1998. The workshop, similar in format to the first, covered the following topics:
The workshop on paints and coatings attracted 24 participants from 7 European Countries (Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Sweden, The Netherlands and the UK). Twelve participants came from the paints and coatings industry or suppliers of refined oil to this sector. Five academics had expertise in areas of chemical and genetic modification of vegetable oils, their chemical analysis and life cycle assessment.
The discussion focused on the following key issues:
Industry needs The paint and surface coatings industry already uses significant quantities of soya and linseed oil. In addition to the required functionality, industry needs raw materials to be available in sufficient quantity, with consistent quality and at a competitive price. For paints, varnishes and inks the oil needs to have a degree of unsaturation, that assists in the drying process, but not so unsaturated that the oils are unstable, easily oxidise. The ideal oil is one with a high level of linoleic and low levels of saturated fatty acids. Such oils are available from safflower and high linoleic linseed. The requirements for inclusion in a paint formulation include, consistent composition, good initial colour, high level of unsaturation without yellowing, available in bulk quantities, pumpable in non-heated lines, low tocophoral content, no significant price premium.
Specific opportunities exist for supply of polyols, such as from castor bean, for manufacture of both alkyd and polyurethane based paints and for conjugated fatty acids (such as from calendula), for formulations offering a high degree of reactivity.
Because of the need for continuity of supply and competitive price, industry has traditionally used commercially available oils, which are mainly produced for the food industry.
Drivers for change in industry A number of drivers for change in industry were identified, as listed below. The main motivation comes from a need to maintain a competitive edge. In this respect, raw material and processing costs are paramount. Industry also need to comply with regulations, of which there are increasing numbers, focused primarily on health and environmental issues. Hence, the main issues are:
A major consideration is issues related to the need to reduce VOCs (volatile organic compounds), with a move away from solvent-based paints and inks towards water-based formulations. This trend could be facilitated by the use of vegetable oils.
Barriers to progressA major consideration is the need to invest in new equipment. This may range from the need to introduce an additional processing step, to developing a complete new manufacturing process. The more costly the adaptation to a new feedstock, the greater the barrier to change.
A second area identified related to genetic modification of crops. Beneficial changes are possible, but such developments are expensive and hence, due to the small market , not always justifiable.
Under European law, any new chemical (even of vegetable origin), needs to be registered. Each individual product manufactured in excess of 10kg needs to obtain EINECS (European Inventory of Existing Commercial Chemical Substances), this is expensive, typically costing in excess of Euro150,000. This represents a considerable barrier to wider use of crop derived raw materials in the chemical industry. These are also anomalies, in that soya bean and linseed oil and their derivatives (eg epoxidised oils), have generic registration, while rapeseed oil does not.
The growing of new crops requires establishment of specific management regimes. Technically these pose no great problem. However, the cost of obtaining 'off label' registration for the pesticide which may be required as part of these regimes can prove a significant financial barrier.
There is currently public concern over the use of genetically modified organisms (GMOs). While the genetic modification of vegetable oil crops could provide industrial raw materials, there are delays in authorisation in planting while concerns about environmental impact (horizontal gene transfer) are resolved.
Finally, the use of oils in paints and coatings represent less than 1% of the world market. Hence, other areas of use may receive priority when research and other funds are allocated.
Focus on future researchIt was concluded that there were
three areas where future research could be beneficial:
chemical
modification of vegetable oils to produce cost-effective and
environmentally friendly materials and processes,
research into the
control of the metabolic pathways involved in vegetable oil biosynthesis,
the development of universally accepted protocols for Life Cycle
Analysis.
Government support It was agreed that both National Government and the European Commission has a significant role to play in encouraging the sensible use of vegetable oils in the paint and coatings industry. They can:
Contacts
Coordinator
EC Scientific Officer
Workshop organiser
© Copyright 2006 Policy Statements
Updated
by CPL Press:
03/07/2007
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