By-products of extraction and transesterification of rapeseed oil
Last changed: 11 March 2011
The main purpose of this work was to evaluate how rapeseed cake and rapeseed meal, together with glycerol from transesterification of rapeseed oil, could be used in different applications, and to calculate their economic value in these uses.
Rapeseed contains 40-50% oil that can be extracted by pressing and possibly subsequent extraction. The residue, rapeseed cake, normally contains 10-25% oil, but rapeseed meal subjected to extraction only contains a few percent oil. Rapeseed cake and rapeseed meal can be used as animal feed, fuel, biogas substrate or fertiliser. If the extracted oil is used as a vehicle fuel it is normally transesterified to rapeseed oil methyl ester (RME) and then glycerol is produced as a by-product.
Glycerol can be used for animal feed, fuel, biogas substrate or in the chemical industry as a raw material or additive in several products.
The project was carried out in 2007 and was funded by the Swedish Farmers’ Foundation for Agricultural Research.
Contact: Sven Bernesson
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