Argent Energy’s pioneering plant has been the focus of an EU demonstration project, (BIODIEPRO). This was established to demonstrate a multi feedstock biodiesel production facility that uses a mixture of animal tallow and used cooking oil rather than virgin oils. In addition, the project sought to develop and demonstrate a new supply chain providing a complete integrated solution for the safe treatment and recovery of energy from animal by-products.

At the outset of the project in 2003, the expected results and exploitation plans of BIODIEPRO were set out as follows:

• Biodiesel facility using multiple saturated fat feedstock.
• Techniques for conversion of tallow and UCO into low sulphur biodiesel.
• Assessment of costs, feasibility, effectiveness and reliability.
• Solution for tallow and UCO streams as alternative disposal to waste, given that use as animal feed has been banned throughout EU since October 2004.
• Reduction in greenhouse gas emissions.
• Environmental impacts of saturated fat biodiesel.
• Solution for safe, environmentally sensitive disposal of animal by-products.

The objectives and problems to be solved were:

• Establish the first European large-scale biodiesel manufacturing facility using both Used Cooking Oil (UCO) and tallow;
• Production of saturated fat derived biodiesel to proposed European fuel quality standards.
• Research safe use of biodiesel production co-products and use of transesterification process to produce a range of reuseable products.
• Demonstrate environmentally sensitive solution for safe disposal of animal by-products.
• Create new value chain linking rendering plants, producers and collectors of UCO with fuel supply/distribution industry. This will reverse the reduction in value of these products as a result of recent legislation prohibiting these products from being used in the food chain.
• Increase knowledge of biodiesel production potential in fuel supply sector. Undertake first life cycle analysis of biodiesel produced from UCO and tallow.
• Contribute to European fuel standards setting by generating data on feasibility of producing biodiesel to specific technical characteristics.
• Demonstrate that TSE protein prions are neutralised or eradicated by the transesterification process to the satisfaction of the EFSA Biohaz Committee, formerly the Scientific Screening Committee.
• Achieve Biohaz Committee declaration of the process as a means of neutralising protein prions including BSE prion.

The BIODIEPRO project was divided into six work packages. Each package focused on specific aspects of the plant, ie construction, the analysis of plant performances or project management. The work packages are as follows:

Work Package 1: Consisted of Design and Construction activities and has now been completed.  These activities focused on the design and construction of the bio-diesel manufacturing plant next to an existing animal rendering facility. The bio-diesel plant utilises a state of the art transesterification process developed in Austria, capable of using waste oils as feedstock (animal by-products from the rendering industry - tallow - and UCO from the food industry). The production capacity is 45,000 tonnes per year.

Work Package 2: Consisted of Commissioning and Testing activities. After construction, the next project stage was to develop the supply chain for the project and to commission and test the facility. Activities included developing links with suppliers and customers, optimising the production process and generating data on plant performance.  This has been completed.

Work Package 3: Consisted of Research and Development activities. This stage involved research to establish whether prions that could be present in the animal tallow would be neutralised or eradicated by the conversion process; examining the quality and scope for alternative use of by-products and testing the use of the transesterification process to produce other products.  Research has established that prions are indeed neutralised or eradicted by the conversion process.

Work Package 4: Consisted of Analysis and Evaluation activities. Once complete information has been collected through the activities of Work Packages two and three, analysis of this information is required. Analysis and evaluation of plant performance has been conducted covering all relevant dimensions including an exploration of technical performance, financial performance, performance of the newly developed supply chain, environmental impacts, economic impacts and the impacts on society. A key part of this work package is an LCA study to assess the environmental impacts of producing biodiesel from tallow and UCO.  Further analysis and refining of the LCA is being carried out.

Work Package 5: Consisted of Dissemination activities. Effectively disseminating the conclusions of the analysis and evaluation carried out was a key component of this project. An understanding of the information needs of priority stakeholder groups must first be achieved. Once these information needs are understood, a dissemination strategy will be developed. Methods of communicating the results of the project will be chosen on the basis of the stakeholder groups targeted and the information they require. Methods of communication are likely to include technical reports, brochures, presentations at conferences, workshops or training courses, an internet site, site visits and contributing articles to papers and the trade press.

Work Package 6: Consisted of Project Management activities: Effective project management was fundamental to the success of the project encompassing matters of scheduling construction, financial management and Human Resource administration. The regular updating of the EC regarding the progress of the project, including producing the final report, was a key objective of this Work Package.

Partnerships formed to complete BIODIEPRO

The BIODIEPRO project was led by Argent Group Europe Limited (the company from which the Argent Energy Group was formed through a demerger) and incorporated the Institute of Chemistry at the University of Graz and the Technical University of Graz and subcontracted to BDI. This partnership was formed to combine the commercial, technical and academic experience and expertise necessary to successfully complete the BIODIEPRIO project. The combined efforts of these independent institutions will contribute to a number of EU energy related policies. This includes a reduction in the greenhouse gas emissions as the resulting fuel will substitute directly for fossil diesel, diversification of energy supply by creating a new source of fuel supply for the transport sector. Biodiesel is a renewable fuel, so the project contributes to the EU objectives to increase the amount of renewable energy.

The Karl-Franzens-University of Graz, Institute for Chemistry (IfC): has undertaken research in areas of synthetic and analytical chemistry, especially chromatography and spectroscopy, polymer and colloid chemistry, biocatalysis and chemistry of renewable resources. A team, headed by Dr Martin Mittelbach, has assessed the effectiveness of neutralizing protein during the production of biodiesel.

Techincal University, Graz , Institute of Biotechnology (IBTUG): specializes in the applied field of microbiology, biotechnology and biochemical engineering. A  team headed by Prof Gerhart Braunegg is researching the possibility of further uses for the biodiesel rather than just as a fuel. It is examining the scope for making even higher added value products (e.g. surfactants) via chemical or biotechnological methods. A further project will examine the co-products of the process, especially the glycerol contaminated with methanol produced by the transesterification process.  The possible coversion  of these materials to biopolymers and/or fine chemicals (e.g. propaneidiol) was considered. Further research into the potential added-value products of the biodiesel process that has been identified in the BIODIEPRO project is being considered.

Technical University, Graz, Institute for Resources and Natural Systems, (msTUG): a team, headed by Prof Michael Narodoslawsky,  has researched the environmental impacts of the production of biodiesel from tallow and UCO. It has undertaken a full Life Cycle Analysis (LCA) to EN ISO 140xx standards (covering a range of different standards) which was subject to an independent critical review.