The PPM offer
PPM – Energie aus nachwachsenden Rohstoffen GmbH ( PPM – energy from renewable resources Ltd. ), founded in 1999 in Austria, has developed an innovative technology for the production of fatty acid methyl esters (biodiesel) from fresh vegetable oils, used vegetable cooking oils and animal fat and manufactures new production plants on the basis of this technology.
PPM also plans, constructs and starts biogas plants for a wide range of substrates for mesophilic or thermophilic operation in accordance with their own technology developed in Asperhofen and Berlin.
What is biodiesel?
Fatty acid methyl esters (FAME) from virgin vegetable oil, used vegetable oil or animal fat are called biodiesel.
100 percent FAME (fatty acid methyl esters) can be used as fuel. On the German and Austrian market, this fuel is obtainable under the name of ”biodiesel”.
Biodiesel = 100 per cent FAME ( fatty acid methyl esters )
In accordance with European legislation, 7% biodiesel is currently compulsorily mixed with diesel fuel (B7)
Advantages of biodiesel
Biodiesel can be used in each and every diesel engine without any problems. It can be stored in exactly the same way as mineral diesel oil. But please pay attention on the approval and the guarantee regulations of the vehicle manufacturer.
Biodiesel can be used alone (100 per cent) or mixed with mineral diesel oil in any ratio.
The use of biodiesel can prolong the service life of diesel engines, because it lubes considerably better than mineral diesel fuel. Fuel consumption, ignition behaviour, power output and torque remain virtually unaltered.
Biodiesel can be transported safely, because of its high flash point of about 200°C. In comparison, mineral diesel fuel has a flash point of 70°C.
Biodiesel is biodegradable.
Biodiesel does not contain sulphur and reduces the emission of CO2 (closed carbon cycle).
The facilities
PPM offers modules for the production of biodiesel with capacities from 5000 to 50000 tones per year.
These capacities are optimal for economic reasons as well as for ecological reasons:
The optimal price-performance-ratio of clear investments and the easy operation of the plants ensure the economic success.
The plants can be supplied with rapeseed oil from a radius of max. 25 km, what reduces the costs for logistics and organisation issues.
Thus, a good and close co-operation with local rape producers is possible
Several modules can be combined to form a bigger factory, as e.g. the Biodiesel-plant in Komárom / Hungary consists of 3 modus with a total production- capacity of 150.000 tons per year.
Process description
The PPM biodiesel technology is based on the approved process of trans-esterfication of fatty acid glycerides in an alkaline environment. Liquid prefabricated potassium methylate is added as catalyst.
The actual process is preceded by the pre-cleaning of the raw material. The pre-cleaning contains the filtration, drying and reduction of the share of free fatty acids in the oil.
The actual process consists of 4 main stages:
Transesterification in two stages
Solubilisation (product washing)
Distillation of methanol and water
Adding of special ingredients
Mass Balance
The soapy water, accrued during the reaction, is added to the glycerol phase.
Consumption data per ton of produced biodiesel:
| Raw Material | Quantity |
|---|---|
|
Virgin Rape Oil |
1020 kg |
|
Methanol |
145 kg |
|
Potassium methylate |
35 kg |
Advantages of PPM technologies
The PPM biodiesel technology has the following advantages:
The quality of the produced biodiesel will correspond to the European standard EN 14214, if suitable raw materials are used.
The production system is suitable for processing virgin rape oil, used vegetable cooking fat and even animal fat.
The process runs fully automatically and computer-controlled. Visualisation allows exact checking of the plant status at any time.
The process of transesterification runs at ambient temperature.
Very low energy consumption of the entire plant system.
The modular design of the plant saves space.
The efficient process allows the usage of small process units. .
No waste products: The glycerine phase can be used for different purposes (e.g. generation of energy, fertilisation in biogas plants, etc.).