are specially designed to convert even challenging raw materials such as animal fats, used cooking oils, trap greases, and vegetable oils into high-quality biodiesel. The technologies can process all kinds of feedstock containing between zero and 99 percent free fatty acids (FFA). The quality of the biodiesel produced exceeds the most stringent quality standards in accordance with EN 14214 and ASTM D6751. We design and build customized biodiesel plants offering maximum feedstock flexibility for our customers and modify existing plants to augment their efficiency and sustainability.
No limits on FFA content in raw material
Process does not generate new waste streams
Global player in international industrial plant engineering
Used cooking oil (UCO), generated primarily by industrial and commercial users, is one of the most important feedstocks for the production of renewable fuels such as biodiesel. Relevant parameters for this raw material include free fatty acids (FFA), water content, and solid impurities. In addition, it is expected to have a high content of polymerized triglycerides, up to ten percent. Because UCO can often be a complex mixture of vegetable oils and animal fats, it is critical that the process used in its further processing is designed to handle this complexity.
In Europe, biodiesel production is closely linked to the use of animal fats. Animal fat typically contains five to 35 percent free fatty acids (FFA). This varies depending on its source and storage conditions. The longer it is stored, the more the fat degrades, which also dramatically increases the sulfur content. Another challenge in processing animal fats is the often high proportion of polymeric plastics such as polyethylene. When converting animal fats to biodiesel, suitable measures such as appropriate fat processing or separating out the polyethylene must be considered.
Residues and by-products from the palm oil industry, such as palm oil mill effluent (POME) and palm fatty acid distillate (PFAD), are well-suited as feedstock for the production of biodiesel. PFAD is generally a clean raw material with a high FFA content and exhibits little variation in terms of quality parameters, but is more expensive compared to POME. Generally speaking, the water content, metal, sulfur, and other parameters in POME can vary greatly, depending on where it comes from and how it is delivered. A biodiesel process for the processing of by-products from palm oil production must therefore be designed in such a way that it is able to reliably compensate for significant fluctuations in quality.
Industrial waste grease, such as yellow grease, brown grease, black grease, or trap grease, is typically a mixture of organic waste oils and fats, as well as residues from wastewater systems. Due to their origin, these fats contain high levels of moisture, impurities and insoluble substances, and the triglycerides in the fats and oils may be chemically highly degenerated. When designing the biodiesel process, these challenges must be considered.
Split fatty acids are formed from gums or soapstock, a by-product of the industrial production of edible oils. Soapstock splitting is used to recover oil residues from the gums, for example by adding sulfuric acid. The resulting split fatty acids are high in free fatty acids (up to 90 percent) and phosphorus (up to 2000 ppm). With technologies from BDI, even this challenging raw material can be processed to yield biodiesel.
The BDI multi-feedstock process can convert a wide range of raw materials such as animal fats, used cooking oils, trap greases, and vegetable oils into high-quality biodiesel that exceeds the highest quality standards. Flexibility in terms of the raw materials used, maximum yield, low operating and maintenance costs, and the renowned reliability of our biodiesel plants guarantee the maximum possible cost-effectiveness.
With the fully continuous RepCAT® process, BDI has developed biodiesel technology for processing waste-based raw materials consisting of up to 99 percent free fatty acids (FFA). The use of a heterogeneous catalyst that is recycled and recirculated back into the process is the key to maximizing the efficiency of this technology. Another advantage of this process is the recovery of salt-free, distillate-quality glycerin as a by-product.
Producers of biodiesel face numerous challenges when attempting to give their plants an economic edge. However, off-the-shelf solutions designed to improve individual parameters such as yield, product quality, or feedstock flexibility prove ineffective. With the BDI Retrofit program, entire existing biodiesel plants are upgraded to the state of the art with the latest technology. To achieve optimum results, it is necessary to develop an individual master concept for each plant in order to implement the best possible technical solutions.
We research and develop innovative technologies to conserve valuable resources and drive the circular economy.
The process design of our technologies can be individually scaled and adapted to a wide variety of production parameters.
We support our customers along the entire value chain—from the engineering and construction of the plant to the commissioning and after-sales service.
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