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ARS Home » Northeast Area » Wyndmoor, Pennsylvania » Eastern Regional Research Center » Sustainable Biofuels and Co-products Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #312268

Research Project: Enable New Marketable, Value-added Coproducts to Improve Biorefining Profitability

Location: Sustainable Biofuels and Co-products Research

Title: Improved synthesis of isostearic acid using zeolite catalysts

Author
item Ngo, Helen

Submitted to: Lipid Technology
Publication Type: Other
Publication Acceptance Date: 11/19/2014
Publication Date: 12/1/2014
Publication URL: http://handle.nal.usda.gov/10113/60658
Citation: Lew, H.N. 2014. Improved synthesis of isostearic acid using zeolite catalysts. Lipid Technology. 26(11-12):246-248.

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Isostearic acids are unique and important biobased products with superior properties. Unfortunately, they are not widely utilized in industry because they are produced as byproducts from a process called clay-catalyzed oligomerization of tall oil fatty acids. Generally, this clay method results in the formation of monomeric (10-40% isostearic acids and iso-oleic acids) and predominantly oligomeric (60-80% dimer and trimer) fatty acid fractions. There is a need to develop new technologies to produce isostearic acids efficiently and economically. This feature article provides a brief summary on the existing and new methodologies for isostearic acid production, with a particular focus on our breakthrough zeolite methods to produce isostearic acids with a more desirable yield (>80 wt%) and conversion (>95%).