Improving the productivity of Biodiesel plants through their adaptation for the production of polyols

Informazioni relative al progetto

B-Ecolyol

ID dell’accordo di sovvenzione: 719885

DOI

10.3030/719885

Progetto chiuso

Data della firma CE 17 Marzo 2016

Data di avvio 1 Febbraio 2016

Data di completamento 31 Maggio 2016

Finanziato da

• SOCIETAL CHALLENGES - Secure, clean and efficient energy

Costo totale

€ 71 429,00

Contributo UE

€ 50 000,00

Coordinato da

BETA RENOWABLE GROUP SA
Spain

Periodic Reporting for period 1 - B-Ecolyol (Improving the productivity of Biodiesel plants through their adaptation for the production of polyols)

Periodo di rendicontazione: 2016-02-01 al 2016-05-31

Sintesi del contesto e degli obiettivi generali del progetto

Biodiesel production plants are subject to periods of involuntary inactivity due to market fluctuations in the pricing of raw materials and/or increasing competition from imports which lower biodiesel selling prices and consequently make production unprofitable.
Our experience in the bio-refinery sector and in the development of engineering processes for the valorization of used oil enabled us to see that used oil and biodiesel could also be used as raw materials for the manufacturing of other products within our plants, and in this way avoid inactivity periods
B-Ecolyol aims to increase the productivity of biodiesel plants through their adapting for the production of polyols using used oil and biodiesel as raw materials. Our innovative process will enable to obtain sustainable polyols (with a 98% bio-based content) using mild operating conditions, and thus reducing global warming emissions and energy consumption by 36% and 61%, respectively compared to petroleum derived polyols

Lavoro eseguito dall’inizio del progetto fino alla fine del periodo coperto dalla relazione e principali risultati finora ottenuti

In order to confirm the feasibility of our project we have carried out a 4-month study consisting on:
- Technical Plan: characterization tests of our products show that they are appropriate to use as raw material for coating, adhesives, sealants and elastomers (CASE applications) manufacture. And the analysis to adapt the biodiesel plant to produce bio-polyols as well, is favourable.
- Analysis of the subsequent stages of the supply chain for the production of coatings shows that because of technical reasons, it is not possible carried out. However, we have stablished relationships with stakeholders (CETEM) to validate and give support to commercialize our technology in this sector.
- Commercial Plan and exploitation strategy: thorough market analysis performed has identified our target markets (wood coating and adhesives & sealants), which present great potential. Commercial strategy has been defined introducing our technology in Europe for those markets as providers of bio-based polyols and offering engineering services and technology to biodiesel producers as well. We will penetrate in the market in three stages: 1) national market (Spain), 2) Germany (the largest producer of these sectors), 3) France, Italy and UK.
- Financial feasibility study: this demonstrated the economic feasibility of our project, confirming estimated prices of products (2.8€/kg) and services (240,000€/kg), taking into account operational costs and profit margins.
- Development of complete Execution Plan for the Phase 2 project, including planning, organization, risk analysis and budget.

Progressi oltre lo stato dell’arte e potenziale impatto previsto (incluso l’impatto socioeconomico e le implicazioni sociali più ampie del progetto fino ad ora)

We expect to deploy the B-Ecolyol technology in the European market, introducing a new processing method for the production of bio-polyols (98% bio-based content) from used oil or biodiesel at a competitive price (2.8€/kg) which will reduce the environmental impact of manufacturing of this kind of products (36% less global warming emissions and 61% less non-renewable energy than not-bio-based polyols). And it will enable biodiesel producers to use their plants for a different application in low productivity periods, thus increasing their revenues and competitiveness.
It will also enable our company to grow, both financially- achieving revenues of approx. €17.61 million and profits of €4.04 million in 2023- and in personnel- we will hire 9 more people.

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