Artisan has developed unique thermal separation processes using our thin film technology for the pre– and post–reaction steps in the biodiesel manufacturing process.

Biodiesel Purification

Artisan has developed a patented process (U.S. Patent No. 7,528,272) to purify biodiesel downstream of the reaction. The innovative two-step process utilizes our thin film technology to produce water–white biodiesel, only needing a simple water–wash step to meet the ASTM 6751 free glycerol specification.

Water–white methyl ester and technical grade glycerin are co-distilled using this technology. Currently this process is used in a 60 million liter biodiesel plant producing ASTM grade biodiesel that is free of steryl glucosides, a white precipitate that has created enormous problems in most plants using conventional processes.

Solvent Recovery from Biodiesel

In the first stage we remove solvent and water from methyl ester, salts, and glycerin. Our process recovers 99.9% of the solvent for recycle back to the reactor.

Methyl Ester Distillation

In the second stage methyl ester and glycerin are co-distilled from the salts and heavies and are condensed and recovered for downstream decantation or centrifugation. The biodiesel is water washed to remove residual free glycerin.

more information on Artisan’s biodiesel purification process …

Feed Pretreatment – removal of FFA from low-grade animal fats

Most biodiesel processes require less than 1% free fatty acid (FFA) in the feedstock. The price of these feed materials, generally, vegetable oils, has skyrocketed with increasing demand. Using our Rototherm technology, Artisan developed an economical one–step process that yields a material with only 1% FFA from inexpensive low–grade feedstocks containing up to 25% FFA with no need for chemicals. The process also produces high quality fatty acids that can be sold or further esterified to produce biodiesel.

The capital equipment has a return on investment of six months based on a 5¢/lb price difference between low–grade feedstocks and rendered materials. For current feedstock pricing, follow this link: http://www.thejacobsen.com

more information on Artisan’s FFA process …

Glycerin Purification from Traditional Biodiesel Processes

For every nine pounds of biodiesel produced in any reaction, one pound of glycerin is also produced. The crude glycerin contains inorganic salts, heavies, solvent and water and is considered a hazardous waste as generated from most biodiesel processes. Artisan has developed a cost effective process to purify the glycerin from crude to fuel grade, tech grade, or USP grade, depending on the quality of the feedstock used in the process.

Artisan’s Glycerin Purification Unit (GPU) offers significant advantages over other glycerin purification systems:

• Greener process and lower annual operating costs due to:
  • No use of steam sparge or high pressure steam used in jets to produce vacuum, which significantly reduces the annual energy consumption
  • No chemical treatment required which minimizes waste disposal and permitting requirements, over and above the rising cost of these chemicals
• Operating costs as low as 1¢/lb of purified glycerin which is 1/3 that of typical deodorization processes and 1/10 that of membrane processes
• Faster return–on–investment
• Proven technology handling difficult separations for over 50 years
• Simple 2–stage process requiring less equipment with 10:1 turndown capability
• Can process wide variety of glycerin crudes (up to 40 – 50% solids/soaps) to produce higher yields in a single–pass for certain feedstocks compared to other technologies with less downtime for cleaning

Click to view tables comparing Artisan’s GPU to alternative processes …

Cost Comparison with a Competing Distillation Process

Plant size: 5 MM GPY crude > 99.0% product purity Feed composition = 84 wt.% glycerin, 9.35% water, 6% NaCL, 0.055% MeOH
Competing process Steam heat, steam sparge, steam jet vacuum system	Heating / Cooling Energy (MM BTU/hr)	Steam Usage (lb/hr)	Electric Power (kW)		Annual Energy Cost ($MM)	Line Item % of Total	Energy Cost ($/lb)
150 PSI Steam		18,300			2.05	88%
Electricity for Process & Utilities			314		0.29	12%
Cooling Tower Load (for comparison)	13.8
Estimated Energy Cost per Year					2.34		$ 0.06
Artisan Process 2–Stage Rototherm evap. process w/rectif. column, mech. vac system	Heating / Cooling Energy (MM BTU/hr)	Steam Usage (lb/hr)	Electric Power (kW)		Annual Energy Cost ($MM)	Line Item % of Total	Energy Cost ($/lb)
Hot oil heater (@ 1.3x est. duty)	4.8				0.40	66%
Electricity for process & utilities			223		0.21	34%
Cooling tower load (for comparison, @1.3x est. duty)	4.5
Estimated energy cost per year					0.61		$ 0.02
Annual operating cost savings of Artisan process: $1.7 MM Capital savings of competing process: $1.8 MM
Assumptions includes: cost of steam @ $13.30/1000 lb/hr, heating @ $10/MM BTU (natural gas), electricity @ 11¢/kWh

 

Cost Comparison with a Competing Membrane Process

Plant size: 4.7 MM GPY crude > 99.0 % product purity, USP grade Feed composition = 74 wt.% glycerin, 24% water, 0.05% MeOH, balance salts
Competing process Chemical treatment, membrane technology, nanofiltration, and distillation	Annual Cost ($MM)	Line Item % of total	Operating Cost ($/lb)
Estimated total operating cost per year, including energy, pre & post treatment materials, and membranes	4.86		$ 0.17
Artisan Process 2–Stage Rototherm evap. process w/rectif. column, mech. vac system	Annual Cost ($MM)	Line Item % of total	Operating Cost ($/lb)
Hot oil heater (@ 1.3x est. duty)	0.30	64%
Electricity for process & utilities	0.17	36%
Estimated energy cost per year	0.48		$ 0.02
Annual operating cost savings of Artisan process: $4.4 MM Capital savings of Artisan process: $1.5 MM
Assumptions includes: cost of heating @ $10/MM BTU (natural gas), electricity @ 11¢/kWh

Note: The above tables are part of a presentation, if you would like to see the whole presentation please contact us.

See more information on Artisan’s glycerin purification process …

Artisan has the expertise to design and build ASME Code 3 vessels required for hydrogen containment in fuel cell battery systems.