Altranex and Minnesota Soybean Processors sign an agreement to build a biorefinery

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Minnesota Soybean Processors (MnSP) is a farmer owned cooperative with more than 2,350 members. It operates a soybean crush facility (3,300 ton per day) and a biodiesel refinery (30 million gallons per year) in Brewster (Minnesota). Its mission is to provide the maximum value-added return to its members by using the latest soybean processing technologies. For that matter, MnSP has recently invested in Altranex Corporation and entered into a license and marketing agreement to build a biorefinery to produce renewable lubricant base oils, waxes, diesel and other products (Altranex press release). Thus, it will diversify its production finding new uses for its soybean crude oil.

Altranex is a developer and marketer of biobased chemical manufacturing processes and products including renewable lubricating base oil (Altra-BASE™), fuels (Altra-DZL™) and chemicals for the polymers industry. The biorefinery will utilize Altranex’s patented process (US 8961775 B2) using soybean oil as the feedstock.

Figure 1. Processes developed by Altranex (extracted from US 8961775 B2)

In the process, the plant oils are hydrolyzed to fatty acids that are, subsequently, subjected to the Kolbe reaction (electrochemical decarboxylation) to synthesize hydrocarbons. According to the patent, those hydrocarbons can be subjected to the following sequences:
  • Olefin metathesis → Separation (Figure 1A): Hydrocarbons suitable for diesel fuel and heavy fuel oil / Shorter linear alpha olefins that can be used as a kerosene fuel or precursors for advanced polymers, detergents and other fine chemicals.
  • Separation → Hydroisomerization (Figure 1B): Hydrocarbons useful as lubricant base oil.

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