Plant upgrade to benefit US biodiesel producer

US biodiesel producer Blue Sun Energy has implemented a new enzymatic processing technology into its 30 million gallon per year St. Joe refinery in Missouri.

This new process uses the Callera Trans L enzyme, provided by Blue Sun’s project partner Novozymes, and is being heralded by Blue Sun as ‘the most advanced biodiesel production facility in the world’.

'The process developed for enzymatic transesterification improves our bottom line through lower costs and higher revenue,’ says Sean Lafferty, Blue Sun VP of technology.

‘We can essentially use any feedstock without limit to free-fatty-acid content, a move which reduces pre-treatment requirements and costs. This advantage alone can yield a savings of $0.10 (€0.07) per pound of feedstock, or around $0.75 lower cost per gallon of finished biodiesel.’

The company says the process also offers more efficient avenues for methanol recovery and usage.