2. Chemical companies focusing on lubricants, polymers, and surfactants can explore diversifying their product portfolio based on bio based products.
3. The biggest advantage with such diversification is that companies not only continue to serve their core businesses but also significantly lower their portfolio risk and their carbon footprint.
4. Petroleum based lubricants have been leading the industry since decades. However, these do not readily degrade and, therefore, pose an environmental hazard. Their disposal becomes a challenge, the cost of properly disposing such material is high and improper disposal can create several health and environmental hazards. This presents a strong incentive to produce lubricants which are bio-degradable.
5. Bio-lubricants are produced from natural oils and fats. Currently, lubricants market is estimated at 38 million tonne (mt) out of which biolubricants account for approximately 3% share (1.2 mt).
6. Conservative estimates reveal that the global lubricant market is expected to reach approximately 45 mt by 2020 out of which bio-lubricant will account for about 9% (4 mt) of the market.
BIOPOLYMERS
1. Like bio-lubricants, biopolymers are substituting traditional petrochemicals based polymers due to their better bio-degradability.
2. The market for bio-polymers is in its infancy and estimated at approximately 1.3 mt globally in 2012 as compared to the global polymer demand of 180 mt. It is expected to grow at a rate of 40% annually to reach about 20 mt by 2020 accounting for 7% of the global polymer market.
NEW AGE SURFACTANTS
1. Methyl ether sulfonate (MES) is a bio chemical based substitute for linear alkyl benzene sulfonate (LABS). Till now, the development of MES has been hindered by the lack of installed production capacity but interest in this space is becoming more intense due to benefits of MES, which scores better than LABS on multiple counts.
2. MES has excellent characteristics such as high purity and active level, and is devoid of any volatile organic compound (VOC). It is also gentle on the skin, has low percent of di-salt, is white/near white in colour, and is suitable for both liquid and powder detergents.
ADVANTAGES
1. vegetable oils can have excellent lubricity, far superior to that of mineral oil. In fact, their lubricity is so potent that in some applications, such as tractor transmissions, friction materials must be added to reduce clutch slippage.
2. Vegetable oils also have a very high viscosity index (VI). For example, a VI of 223 is common for vegetable oil, compared to 90 to 100 for most mineral oils, about 126 for polyalphaolefin (PAO) and 150 for polyglycol.
3. Viscosity index can be defined as a frequently used measure of a fluid’s change of viscosity with temperature. The higher the viscosity index, the smaller the relative change in viscosity with temperature. In other words, oil with a high VI changes less with temperature than oil with a low VI.
4. Another important property of vegetable oils is their high flash points. Typically, this might be 326 degrees C (610 degrees F) for a vegetable oil, compared to a flash point of 200 degrees C (392 degrees F) for most mineral oils, 221 degrees C for polyalphaolefin (PAO) and 177 degrees C for polyglycol.
5. Flash point can be defined as the temperature to which a combustible liquid must be heated to give off sufficient vapor to momentarily form a flammable mixture with air when a small flame is applied under specified conditions, according to ASTM D92. More importantly, vegetable oils are biodegradable, generally less toxic, renewable and reduce dependency on imported petroleum oils.
DISADVANTAGES
1. On the negative side, vegetable oils in their natural form lack sufficient oxidative stability for lubricant use. Low oxidative stability means the oil will oxidize rather quickly during use if untreated, becoming thick and polymerizing to a plastic-like consistency. Chemical modification of vegetable oils and/or the use of antioxidants can address this problem, but it will increase the cost. Chemical modification may involve partial hydrogenation of the vegetable oil and a shifting of its fatty acids.
2. The challenge with hydrogenation is determining at what point the process should cease. Depending on the required liquidity and pour point of the oil, optimum hydrogenation is established. Recent advances in biotechnology have led to the development of genetically enhanced oil seeds that are naturally stable and do not require chemical modification and/or use of antioxidants.
3. Another disadvantage of using vegetable oils is their high pour point. Pour point is defined as the lowest temperature at which an oil or distillate fuel is observed to flow when cooled under conditions prescribed by test method ASTM D97. The pour point is 3 degrees C (5 degrees F) above the temperature at which the oil in a test vessel shows no movement when the container is held horizontally for 5 seconds.
4. This problem also can be addressed by winterization, the addition of chemical additives (pour point suppressants) and/or blending with other fluids possessing lower pour points. Various synthetic oils can be used for this purpose.
CHALLENGES
1. Shift to biodiesel: Biodiesel (methyl esters of various chain lengths) is one of the uses of bio based chemicals. Any change in government regulations and blending norms for biodiesel can significantly impact economics of bio based products. Increased requirement from biodiesel could push prices of oils higher thereby making them less attractive vis-à-vis petroleum feedstocks. However, this risk is largely mitigated due to a significant shift worldwide towards shale gas as the new and economically viable energy source.
2. Feedstock availability: Continuous availability of feedstocks is a concern which remains at the top of the mind of companies operating in bio based chemicals. Historically, about 12% to 14% of the world’s vegetable oil production has been used for bio based chemicals production. The emerging applications discussed above would require an additional approximately 8 mt of vegetable oil by 2020. Estimates show that this can be met with the increasing global vegetable oil production which is projected to increase from 150 mt in 2012 to 185 mt by 2020.
Source: machinerylubrication, business-standard
