The Essential Guide to Setting up your Biodiesel Manufacturing Plant

Setting up a biodiesel manufacturing plant is as tough a task as any. It has its fair share of challenges, but also plenty of rewards to make the effort worth your while. We're here to help you navigate the complex landscape of not only running a biodiesel manufacturing business but also the industries and processes, like producing oil or glycerine, that are very much part of the same ecosystem. All in all, biodiesel manufacturing is an important answer to the questions of environmental toxins, fossil fuel emissions, and climate change. So let's dive straight into how you can leverage a biodiesel production plant to help the planet and meet the growing global demand for fuel, all while running a thriving business for yourself.

Here's your essential guide to setting up a biodiesel manufacturing plant.

What are biodiesels? What are their applications?

Biodiesels are clean, green fuels that come from a variety of non-fossil fuel sources. They can be made from used cooking oil, animal fats or tallow, edible vegetable oils like those extracted from soybean, corn, palm kernels, or canola, and also from inedible plant-based oils like jatropha. They are a renewable energy source, constituted of mono-alkyl esters. They can be used either in their pure form or when blended with regular diesel, with applications as aircraft fuel, lubricants, degreasers, adhesive removers, raw material to make printing ink remover, and even as bioremediation agents to clean up oil spills. As you can see, biodiesel is almost a magical fuel, with applications across industries, but biodiesel manufacturing hasn't yet been leveraged to its full potential. But that's where you can come in - to increase production of this important resource while benefiting the economy and the environment.

What questions should you ask yourself before you get into the biodiesel manufacturing business?

Before we dive into the nitty-gritties of setting up a biodiesel manufacturing plant, there are some preliminary questions you should ask yourself about the intention, investment, and level of involvement you will need to establish a truly successful biodiesel manufacturing operation.

What difference can I make in the world by investing in a biodiesel production plant? What's my purpose?

Having an idea is one thing, but having a vision is another. There are plenty of reasons why getting into biodiesel manufacturing is a good idea. But why is it a good idea for you? What is your purpose, your vision for getting into the business? You may be committed to sustainability and improving environmental and human health. Maybe it's the chance to create wide-ranging economic opportunities that attracts you. Or maybe it's your commitment to producing a strong domestic fuel industry to reduce your country's dependence on expensive imported fossil fuels. Whichever it may be, it helps to have clarity about it as this big picture vision may eventually influence the smaller decisions that you make along the way.

Do I really want to invest in the infrastructure needed for a relatively new form of energy production?

Biodiesel manufacturing has only really caught on in the last couple of decades. Compared to more widely-used fossil fuels, introducing infrastructure for a relatively new form of fuel production can be challenging. You will have to make well-informed decisions when investing in not only equipment but also labour that is skilled enough to use it. There are, however, some benefits to this situation. Oils and fats manufacturers and refiners can use existing machinery, raw materials, and infrastructure to produce biodiesel. Your customers will not have to change their machines drastically as biodiesel can be used in existing diesel engines without replacements. And finally, whatever investment you do make will earn you commensurate returns as you will repurpose some existing resources, optimally use raw materials and byproducts from other industries, and also provide operational efficiencies due to lower sulphur content and better engine lubrication. So while investing in biodiesel manufacturing infrastructure does have some challenges, you should assess the returns in terms of better quality, performance, and environmental costs as you answer this question for yourself.

Do you want to be limited to biodiesel production?

Are you already in the oils and fats industry? If you are, getting involved in biodiesel manufacturing is a natural next step as you likely already have access to the raw materials you need to produce biodiesel. What's more, this will help you make the most of waste as resource in biodiesel production and help you gain an additional revenue stream.

If you aren't in an allied industry already, you can still consider making value add products or stepping into industries adjacent to biodiesel manufacturing. For instance, glycerine - separated during transesterification - is an unwanted byproduct while making biodiesel. But it is an important raw material in the soap manufacturing industry. By distilling the glycerine produced in your plant, you can supply other industries to generate additional revenue.

Understanding the process

We've elaborated on the biodiesel production process elsewhere on our blog and website, so we won't get into the details here. It will suffice to remember that first, your feedstock will need to be pretreated to eliminate impurities like gums, phosphorus, metals, moisture, mineral acidity, and free fatty acids. This is done via washing, degumming, bleaching, deacidification, and more. Then, during biodiesel production, the oil-based feedstock is combined with an alcohol in the presence of a catalyst to produce methyl esters (biodiesel) and glycerol. The resulting products are then washed and stripped of any impurities and finally, crude biodiesel may be distilled to produce pure fractions used in specialty chemical manufacturing.

Decisions to make when planning your biodiesel production plant

Now we get to the details - the small details that you would do well to pay deep attention to if you want to operate a successful biodiesel manufacturing business.

- Choosing your feedstock: The feedstock for your biodiesel manufacturing plant may come from a variety of sources. You may rely on low FFA feedstock from used cooking oil, tallow, or vegetable oils like soya, sunflower etc. Or you may go for a high FFA feedstock like acid oil, FFA distillate, spent oil, and high FFA vegetable oils. When choosing one, you should think of:

o Ease of sourcing - select raw materials that you have easy access to. This may be oils that are produced in the region where you are based, or it may be the byproducts from your other businesses in the oils and fats industry.

o Conversion efficiency - each type of feedstock has a conversion factor. For instance, some estimates claim that soybean oil has a conversion factor of 7.55 pounds of oil per gallon of biodiesel produced. Do your research and reach out to experts to assess the conversion efficiency of a type of feedstock before you commit to using it. This will help you know how much biodiesel you can expect to produce with a certain amount of raw materials.

o Sustainability - biodiesels can be produced from both edible oils and non-edible oils, but it may be more sustainable to source non-edible oil feedstock as you won't have to compete with food product manufacturers. Either way, the way the crops for your raw materials are grown also affects the sustainability of your operations in a larger sense - if you demand oils from plants that are difficult or unsustainable to produce, you will be fueling a demand for them and inadvertently harming the environment.

- Choosing your alcohol: The alcohol most commonly used in biodiesel manufacturing is methanol, in the presence of an alkaline catalyst. This is usually the most economical option. But for other reasons related to access and availability, you could also consider using higher order alcohols like ethanol and propanol with the appropriate catalysts.

- Choosing equipment: Most important of it all, choosing the machines that will make all the biodiesel manufacturing magic happen. Here's what you should keep in mind while assessing a biodiesel production plant you might invest in.

o Resource consumption - there are biodiesel plants which have fairly low resource consumption. We're talking about catalysts, methanol, energy, utilities, and amount of feedstock. A plant which uses as few of these resources as possible while still delivering a high yield is ideal.

o Waste production - this may not seem like an important concern right now, but you are responsible for cleaning up any effluents that arise from your biodiesel manufacturing plant, so you should invest in systems that generate very little effluent and also form only small amounts of soap during production. This is good not only for your pocket, but also for the planet.

o Quality of generated product - being efficient with your resource use is useless if the biodiesel you produce is not of good quality. Prioritise product quality as this will also affect your customer's experience in terms of smooth engine functioning.

o Production capacity - once you have decided which feedstock you will use and the other particulars of biodiesel production, make sure you calculate the production capacity you would need to operate at to get an ROI on your investment as early as possible.

Ultimately, it always helps to have a partner by your side when you make critical decisions that will affect the future of your business and the trajectory of your growth. Kumar's innovative engineering solutions and superior manufacturing standards can help you not only enhance your efficiency, but also optimize costs to show you a bottom line that you are proud of. With our 700+ projects across 65+ countries, we've demonstrated our commitment to building long lasting systems, with minimal wear and tear and maintenance requirements, and providing all our customers a productive and joyful experience of working with us.