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Teil 3 Seite 10-2
costs for the cooling lubricant on the basis of saturated fatty acids, since approx. 16 kg of
rape seed oil needs to be prepared for the manufacture of one kilogram of this fraction.
In preliminary trials at the Institute for Energy and Environmental Technology of the Food
Industry (LEU) at the Munich-Weihenstephan TU, a methyl ester was manufactured on
the basis of animal fats. The saturated fatty acid content (C14:0 – C18:0) is approx. 54%
in animal fat. Rape seed oil exhibits a substantially higher content of unsaturated fatty
acids, which on the basis of double bonding oxidise far more easily, and therefore do not
exhibit as long a utilisable life-span, since they deteriorate very quickly. The subsequent
transesterification process does not change the percentage distribution of the fatty acid
components.
Achieved environmental benefits
Cross media effects
A full and problem free substitution of the exhaustible resource represented by cooling
lubricant manufactured from mineral oil is possible through the sustainable raw material
represented by animal fat, since approx. 300.000 t of animal fat is currently produced in
animal carcass disposal plants in Germany per annum. In this regard, primarily slaughter-
ing waste from slaughtering houses (2,6 million t), as well as animal carcasses (150.000 t)
are processed.
On the basis of these 3000.000 t of animal fat, the outlined process allows approx.
150.000 t of saturated fatty acids to be separated and to be processed into cooling lubri-
cants. In comparison, the annual demand for cooling lubricants in Germany is approx.
75.000 t. Demand can therefore be met fully on the basis of animal fats.
However, markets can also be created for the remnant of saturated fatty acids not utilis-
able as cooling lubricants (75.000 t) and the entire volume of unsaturated fatty acids
(150.000 t). In this regard, for example, the annual total demand for lubricants is approx.
1,2 million t. Cooling lubricants here only have a small market share at 75.000 t. Larger
volumes are consumed in the motor oil (385.000 t), hydraulic oil (150.000 t), processed oil
(144.000 t), gear lubricant oil (95.000 t), as well as the base oil (83.000 t) sector. The total
volume of animal fats or animal fat ester can therefore easily be integrated into the Ger-
man lubricant market.
Operational data Applicability
Within the framework of research conducted with the co-operation of various project
partners, non-water miscible cooling lubricants are to be manufactured. For the first time,
animal fats from animal carcass conversion plants and used nutrient fats are to be used
as a source of raw materials. These fats are purified and subjected to a transesterification
process, and the fatty acid ester is then subsequently fractionated. The technique of water
vapour distillation is to be adapted to the necessary requirements within this context and
optimised for the purification of raw materials. This is necessary to eliminate unpleasant
odorous substances, e.g. short-wrap fatty acids, aldehydes or ketones. If required, treat-
ment with active charcoal can subsequently be carried out in order to enhance purification
performance further.