Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2024 Sep 10;14(39):28827-28843.
doi: 10.1039/d4ra04481a. eCollection 2024 Sep 4.

Biomass as an alternative feedstock to oleochemicals

Zeni Rahmawati  1 , Liangga Santoso  1 , Wan Nazwanie Wan Abdullah  2 , Abdul Hamid  3 , Nor Laili Azua Jamari  4 , Djarot Sugiarso  1 , Yatim Lailun Ni'mah  1 , Alfa Akustia Widati  5
Affiliations
Review

Biomass as an alternative feedstock to oleochemicals

Zeni Rahmawati et al. RSC Adv. .

Abstract

The huge demands for petrochemicals have led to a rapid increase in the production of these fossil-based derivatives. Biomass represents a promising feedstock for addressing the challenges related to petrochemicals in terms of the necessity to apply renewable sources and the need to decrease carbon emissions. Among the natural biomass products, most studies have attempted to upgrade natural oils owing to their promising advantages of worldwide availability, low-cost processing, and built-in functionality. This paper discusses the upgradation of natural oils to the most beneficial oleochemicals, including fatty acids, fatty alcohols, and fatty acid methyl esters. This review also covers the utility, physico-chemical properties, and the production processes for such materials. The interconnected reaction routes to produce oleochemicals and the affecting parameters (catalyst design, temperature, and pressure) are also elucidated. Furthermore, this article discusses the future perspective of oleochemicals based on their development in recent years.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

There are no conflicts to declare.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1. Global demand for petrochemicals.
Fig. 2
Fig. 2. Global vegetable oil production from 2015 to 2024.
Fig. 3
Fig. 3. Structure of triglyceride (a) and tri-acyl glyceride of stearic acid as an example (b).
Fig. 4
Fig. 4. Upgrading natural oil to basic oleochemicals and derivatives.
Fig. 5
Fig. 5. Structure of saturated fatty acids.
Fig. 6
Fig. 6. Hydrolysis of triglycerides to produce fatty acids.
Fig. 7
Fig. 7. Fatty acids transformation into derivative compounds.
Scheme 1
Scheme 1. Transesterification of triglycerides.
Fig. 8
Fig. 8. Fatty acid methyl ester reaction network.
Fig. 9
Fig. 9. Structure of fatty alcohols.
Fig. 10
Fig. 10. Main applications of fatty alcohols.
Fig. 11
Fig. 11. Fatty alcohols transformation into derivative compounds.
Scheme 2
Scheme 2. Formation of fatty alcohols from different feedstocks.
Scheme 3
Scheme 3. Reaction pathways for by-product formation.
Fig. 12
Fig. 12. Reusability of the NiFe catalyst in several reaction cycles at 250 °C and under 50 bar for 2 h.
Fig. 13
Fig. 13. Conversion and product yields of lauric acid over Cu/Al2O3 after the first, second, and third catalyst use.
Fig. 14
Fig. 14. Lifecycle of oleochemicals.
Fig. 15
Fig. 15. LCA metrics of oleochemicals by Kao.
Fig. 16
Fig. 16. TEA result for volatile fatty acid production from food waste and grass through anaerobic digestion.
Fig. 17
Fig. 17. Global market for oleochemicals.
Fig. 18
Fig. 18. Oleochemical demand by type, application, and region.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Akizuki Y., Bressers A., Couse J., Healy C., Mackey P., Martin D., Messing J., Thomson J., Canu J., Fernando Rosa L., Bosoni T., Sadamori K., Mooneesawmy D., Arsalane Y., Blasi A., Cozzi L., Frankl P., Gould T., Grimal P., Hilaire J., McGlade C., Moorhouse J., Petropoulos A. and Tonolo G., Oil 2023: Analysis and Forecast to 2028, 2023
    1. Hoang A. T. Tabatabaei M. Aghbashlo M. Carlucci A. P. Ölçer A. I. Le A. T. Ghassemi A. Renewable Sustainable Energy Rev. 2021;135:110204. doi: 10.1016/j.rser.2020.110204. - DOI
    1. Carlsson A. S. Biochimie. 2009;91:665–670. doi: 10.1016/j.biochi.2009.03.021. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Alkazimi M., Spitzy J., Benmerabet M., Salo R., Guerer N., Etiobhio I., Ban J., Vafaie Fard E., Aliefendic H., Sugungun M., Walker J., Tallett M., Bock-Butler A., Kaditi E., McKirdy D., Baikalizadeh B., AlSeiari B., Zarie Zare M., Mekerba M., Hassani H., Balfakeih H., Danesh M. A., Sariahmed Y., Yahyai A., Christodoulides P., Eichner H., Kammerer R., Stoeger K., Sattar M., Arifin Z., Mihnev M. and Pelenis J., 2020 World Oil Outlook 2045, Vienna, Autria, 2020
    1. de Vries J. G. Curr. Opin. Green Sustainable Chem. 2023;39:100715. doi: 10.1016/j.cogsc.2022.100715. - DOI

LinkOut - more resources