Green transformation! Let the waste oil ＂fly＂ to the sky

Our reporter Dong Chang

Isn’t it incredible that gutter oil can not only be refined into biodiesel, but also become aviation kerosene to "fly" to the sky?

On September 18th, in Shenze Economic Development Zone, Hebei Province, the reporter walked into the product testing room of Hebei Huide Renewable Resources Co., Ltd., and Wang Meng, the technical director of the company, was sampling new products in front of the chlorine meter. Looking at the clear and translucent liquid in the glass dish, Wang Meng told the reporter, "This is the bio-aviation kerosene extracted from waste oil, which is colorless and tasteless."

This enterprise is well-known in the field of bioenergy. "We are the largest biodiesel producer in the province. Biodiesel is all refined from waste oil, with an annual output of 120,000 tons, and all products are exported to EU countries." Guo Jihui, the chairman of the company, said that at present, their production process of refining bio-aviation kerosene has completed the pilot test and has the conditions for large-scale production.

As early as the beginning of the factory in 2012, Huide Company aimed at the systematic research and technology development of waste oil resource utilization.

Shenze oil industry came into being with the development of daily chemical industry. As one of Hebei waste oil distribution centers, Shenze can collect more than 1 million tons of raw materials such as waste cooking oil and kitchen waste oil all over the country every year.

Relying on the foundation of local oil industry, Huide Company started with the extraction of epoxy fatty acid methyl ester from waste oil, and went through the process of technological innovation and equipment renewal, from providing bioplasticizers for manufacturers of disposable nontoxic PVC gloves and children’s toys to developing and producing bio-energy products such as biodiesel.

This is a green transformation. Along the way, Guo Jihui was deeply touched by the hardships of breaking through. "Every update link is like breaking through the customs, and every customs is a narrow escape."

"For the production of biodiesel, the waste oil should be heated to the evaporation point first, then condensed and recycled, and then the different components in the oil can be separated." Guo Jihui introduced that at the beginning, they invested more than 4 million yuan to build a new traditional tower distillation production line. After half a year of trial production, it was found that the separation efficiency was poor and the purity of refined fatty acid methyl ester could not meet the requirements.

In Guo Jihui’s view, the production of good products depends on innovation, and innovation cannot be afraid of investment. So, they scraped together nearly 6 million yuan, reluctantly dismantled the tower distillation production line and bought short-range molecular distillation equipment specially used for separation and purification of high-boiling mixtures. By updating the equipment, improving the process, and after repeated tests, Huide’s biodiesel production line finally reached its production capacity successfully.

The breakthrough from "0" to "1" is only the first step for this enterprise to rush to a new track.

Follow Wang Meng into the production workshop and see that the newly collected waste oil is being injected into a large tank, which is about to be pre-treated.

"In the pretreatment stage, we adopted a self-developed enzymatic process. The waste oil can be purified by biological enzyme catalysis, and high-purity fatty acid methyl ester and glycerol can be separated." Wang Meng introduced that with this process, the yield of biodiesel and glycerol can reach 90%, and energy consumption can be reduced by more than 3%.

With the breakthrough of key core technologies, Huide Company has successfully developed a new track for bioenergy industry. In 2022, the company’s annual biodiesel production capacity exceeded 120,000 tons, with an annual output value of 970 million yuan. "At present, the project with an annual output of 400,000 tons of bio-aviation kerosene is about to start construction." Guo jihui introduced.

What makes them even more happy is that the bioenergy industry chain here is accelerating.

In the past two years, Shenze County has seized the opportunity to build a strong new energy province, vigorously cultivated the development of bioenergy industry by gathering high-tech enterprises, improving infrastructure and expanding application scenarios, and has initially formed a whole industrial chain covering the collection and storage of waste oils and fats and the production of industrial-grade mixed oil, biodiesel, bio-aviation kerosene and other products. Up to now, there are 17 bioenergy enterprises in the county, and seven bioenergy projects with a total investment of 3 billion yuan are being accelerated. In the future, the annual production capacity of biodiesel and bio-aviation kerosene in the county will reach 400,000 tons and 700,000 tons respectively.

"Not long ago, Shijiazhuang was selected as a national pilot for the promotion and application of biodiesel, and the application scenarios became more and more abundant. Many foreign companies have come to us to discuss business." Guo Jihui is full of expectations for the future. "With the accelerated gathering of bioenergy enterprises, the industrial chain, supply chain and upstream and downstream regional cooperation in innovation chain will become closer and closer, and the competitive advantage of our products will become more obvious."