Altranex y Minnesota Soybean Processors firman un acuerdo para construir una biorrefinería

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Minnesota Soybean Processors (MnSP) es una cooperativa de granjeros con más de 2.350 miembros que opera un molino de soja (3.300 toneladas al día) y una planta de biodiesel (30 millones de galones al año) en Brewster (Minnesota). Su misión es dar el mayor valor añadido que pueda a los cultivos de sus miembros mediante el uso de las últimas tecnologías de procesado de la soja. En esta línea, MnSP ha invertido en Altranex Corporation y ha firmado un acuerdo de licencias y comercialización con dicha empresa para construir una biorrefinería que produzca lubricantes, ceras, diésel y otros productos de origen renovable (nota de prensa de Altranex). De esta manera, diversificará su producción encontrando nuevos usos para el aceite crudo de soja que produce.

Altranex es un desarrollador y comercializador de procesos de producción y productos químicos basados en la biomasa en los que se incluyen aceites lubricantes (Altra-BASE™), combustibles (Altra-DZL™) y  productos químicos para la industria del plástico. La biorrefinería utilizará un proceso patentado de Altranex (US 8961775 B2) utilizando aceite de soja como materia prima.

Figura 1. Procesos desarrollados por Altranex (extracted from US 8961775 B2)

En el proceso, los aceites vegetales son hidrolizados para obtener ácidos grasos que son, posteriormente, sometidos a una reacción de Kolbe (descarboxilación electroquímica) para sintetizar hidrocarburos. De acuerdo a lo indicado en la patente, esos hidrocarburos pueden seguir las siguientes secuencias:
  • Metátesis olefínica → Separación (Figura 1A): Hidrocarburos para diésel y fuel oil pesado / Olefinas lineales más cortas que pueden ser utilizadas como keroseno o precursores de polímeros avanzados, detergentes y otros productos de química fina.
  • Separación → Hidroisomerización (Figure 1B): Hidrocarburos útiles como lubricantes.

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