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Submitted to: International Starch Technology Conference
Publication Type: Abstract Only Publication Acceptance Date: 4/20/2003 Publication Date: 6/20/2003 Citation: ERHAN, S.Z. NEW USES OF VEGETABLE OILS. INTERNATIONAL STARCH TECHNOLOGY CONFERENCE. 2003. Abstract. p.53. Interpretive Summary: Technical Abstract: Vegetable oils are used in various industrial applications such as emulsifiers, lubricants, plasticizers, surfactants, plastics, solvents and resins. Research and development approaches take advantage of the natural properties of these oils. Vegetable oils have superb environmental credentials, such as being inherently biodegradable, having low eco-toxicity and low toxicity towards humans, being derived from renewable resources and contributing to no volatile organic chemicals (VOC). At the Food and Industrial Oil Research Unit (ARS, USDA, NCAUR), our principle efforts focus on modifying the chemical and physical properties of vegetable oils, to enhance their use as an additive or as a major component of value-added industrial products. One area is the preparation of 100% vegetable oil-based ink vehicles and formulations. They are cost competitive with petroleum-based inks and have better quality factors and environmental properties, such as biodegradabiliy, lower VOC and good de-inkability. A second area is the chemical modification of vegetable oils to give properties necessary for biodegradable lubricant base stocks. Improvements in oxidative stability and low temperature performance are the key focus areas. A third area is the development of composites by solid freeform fabrication method. Freeform fabrication method builds materials by the repetitive addition of thin layers. This approach is applied to build parts from a mixture of epoxidized vegetable oil and epoxy resin, which are modified with a gelling agent to solidify the materials until curing occurs. The high strength composites are formed through fiber reinforcement. |
