NON - FOOD PALM OIL PRODUCT

Palm Oil and palm kernel oil are two different oils or fats which can be extracted from the fruit of the oil palm (Elaeis guineensis), semi-solid at room temperature, these oils or fats can be fractionated into solid and liquid fractions known as stearins and oleins respectively. They can also be processed through physical or chemical refining to yield either refined, bleached and deodorized (RBD) or neutralized, bleached and deodorized (NBD) palm oil and palm kernel oil. Combinations of these processes lead to various types of palm oil and palm kernel oil products (see figure 1).

Figure 1: Processing of Palm Oil and Palm Kernel Oil

Although the volume is small in relation to that used for food, it is important since most of the palm oil and palm kernel oil are further processed to products of higher added value. With the expected growth in the output of palm oil and the general tendency for the industry to develop downstream activities, the area of oleochemical applications is expected to grow in importance.

For simplicity the palm oil and palm kernel oil and their products will be divided into two categories which are direct route and oleochemical route (see figure 2)

Figure 2: Non - Food Application of Palm Oil and Palm Kernel Oil

Oleochemicals are chemicals derived from oils and fats. They are analogous to petrochemicals which are chemicals derived from petroleum.

Oleochemicals or derivatives based on C12-C14 and C16-C18 chain lengths have a variety of uses. Tallow and coconut oil have been the traditional raw materials used for the production of C16-C18 and C12-C14 chain lengths respectively. While tallow is produced by the developed countries such as the United States and the world has to rely on the Asia Pacific region for the supply of the laurics oils which are the C12-C14 source. The Philipines has been the main supplier of lauric oils.

The hydrolysis or alcoholysis of oils and fats formed the basis of the oleochemicals industry. The five basic oleochemicals are fatty acids, fatty Methyl esters, fatty alcohol, fatty nitrogen compounds and glycerin.

• High temperature and high pressure splitting of Palm Oil or Palm kernel Oil to produce crude fatty acids and glycerin as a by product.
• Distillation of the crude fatty acids to produce distilled or fractionated fatty acids which is a high purity fatty acids.

• Transesterification of Palm oil or Palm Kernel Oil with Methanol to produce crude methyl ester and glycerin as a by product.
• Distillation of the methyl ester to produce distilled or fractionated fatty methyl ester.

• Hydrogenation of distilled or fractionated methyl ester at high temperature and pressure in the presence of catalyst to produce crude fatty alcohol.
• Distillation to produce distilled fatty alcohol.

• The most common fatty nitrogen compounds are fatty amides, nitriles, amines and quartenary ammonium compounds
• The most important of these compound is quartenary ammonium compounds colloquially known as ¡¥quats¡¦ which is used in softeners.

• Glycerin is a valuable co-product of the oleochemicals industry.
• It has many applications such as in pharmaceuticals and cosmetics industry.

• Lotions
• Creams
• Foundations
• Compacts powders
• Eye make-up
• Lipsticks
• Hair dyes

• Hair Shampoos and conditioners
• Shower gels, shower cream, shower foam
• Toners
• Cleansers
• Moisturizer
• Toothpaste
• Mouthwashs
• Deoderants
• Baby care
• Perfumes and Fragrances

• Sodium Soap ¡V Toilet soap, Laundry Soap,
• Potassium Soap - Liquid soap
• Metallic Soap- animal feed

• Decorative candles
• Lighting purposes
• Warming purposes

• Ointment
• Emulsion
• Gel
• Creams
• Culture media
• Tabletting aids

• Food grade lubricants
• Lubricants
• Greases
• Food grade purposes
• Multi-purpose greases

• Cleaning powder
• Hair conditioner
• Fabric softener

• Industrial cleaners-hospitals, bottles cleaning
• Textiles processing aids
• Petroleum explorations-drilling fluids, drilling mud
• Polymer processing aids-plasticizer, stabilizer, additives

• As a solvents
• As a emulsifier
• As a carrier

• Wood surfaces
• Metal surfaces
• Plastic surfaces
• Paper coatings

• Metal surfaces
• Plastic surfaces

• Insulation and special-purpose plastic components

• Softening
• Dressing
• Polishing
• Treating agents

• Emulsifier and specialty fat for cakes, pastries, margarine, ice-cream and other food products.
• Cocoa butter substitute
• Filled condensed milk

Palm-based methyl esters have been extensively tested as a substitute for diesel in taxis, buses, lorries, tractors and stationary engines. The data available to date indicate that cold starting is easy and engines run smoothly with less smoke and reduced content of carbon particles in the exhaust fumes. The use of palm methyl esters as a diesel substitute contrast with the use of crude palm oil which does not require any modification of the engines. The economic viability of palm methyl ester as a diesel substitute will depend on the costs of diesel, crude palm oil and glycerin.

Alpha-sulphonated methyl esters (SME) are a new class of anionic surfactant. Recently SME have received a lot of attention as active ingredients inwashing and cleaning products for a variety of reasons which include:

1. Good lime-soap dispersing characteristic
2. Good detergency especially in hard water and in the absence of phosphates
3. C14, C16 and C18 methyl esters have best detergency
4. Good biodegradability

Distilled fatty acid methyl esters with a low iodine value are used as the starting material for the production of SME. The fatty acid methyl esters are first reacted with sulfur trioxide at 80C ¡V 90C in a falling film reactor. The dark product obtained is bleached using hydrogen peroxide and then neutralized with alkali to produce the alpha-sulphonated methyl esters. Because of the good detergy of C16 ¡V C18 fatty acid methyl esters, palm stearin provides a suitable and cheap source of raw material for the production of SME. The detergency properties of SME derived from palm stearins have been found comparable with those of linear alkyl benzene sulphonates (LAS), the workhorse of the detergent industry. In hard water, the performance of SME is superior to that of LAS in phosphate-free detergent formulations.

Soaps are mixtures of sodium salts of fatty acids which can be derived from oils or fats by reacting them with caustic soda at 80 C -100 C in the process known as saponification. The use of soap as laundering agent and for cleansing the skin is many centuries old. Although modern detergents have almost eliminated the use of soap for home laundry purposes soap is still the main ingredients in toilet bars for personal use. The incorporation of both C16-C18 and C12-C14 fatty acids in soaps is important as they provide the cleaning, solubility and foaming properties required. Tallow and coconut oil, respectively have been the traditional sources of these fatty acids. A comparison between the fatty acid compositions of palm oil, palm stearin, tallow, palm kernel olein and coconut oils are rich in C12-C14 fatty acids.

Palm stearin and palm kernel olein are produced along with palm olein and palm kernel stearin when palm oil and palm kernel oil are fractionated. While palm olein and palm kernel stearin have higher added value because of their specific food applications. Palm stearin and palm kernel olein are normally sold at discount prices. Several studies carried out by Kifli et al revealed that palm stearin and tallow can be formulated together with palm kernel oil to give soaps that are comparable with tallow palm kernel olein blends. Since Palm stearin is cheaper than tallow the resulting soaps are expected to be cheaper. Perfume retention of palm based soaps has also been found to be better than that of soaps made from tallow. More interesting are the observations of Kifli et al on palm stearin and palm kernel oil blend that soaps based on these were found to have better foaming power and colour. Poor colour and discolouration are common complaints expressed by soap manufacturers attempting to use palm kernel oil for production of white soaps.

Fatty esters are increasingly being used for the production of soap. Soaps produced from fatty esters are normally better in quality than those made from fatty acids since the fatty esters can be better purified. When soap is made from fatty acids, esters and alcohol will be produced and its complete removal is necessary before the soap can be certified fit for use./td>

In the manufacture of candles from fatty acids a ratio of about 7:2 is required between the C16-C18 in order to ensure maximum shrinkage and hence easy removal from the mould. The ratio favours the used of fatty acids from palm kernel oil since they have a high palmitic acid content. Candles derived from palm fatty acids have longer burning life, produce less smoke and drip less tha candles made from petroleum wax but uncompetitive pricing has so far prevented the commercialization of palm-based candles.

Only good grades of fatty acids can be used to make cosmetic products. The fatty acids normally used are myristic, palmitic and stearic. They serve various purposes i.e acting as lather improvers and conditioners, and providing luster and sheen.

Another important application of palm fatty acids is for the production of metallic or non-sodium soaps. The most common ones are calcium and zinc palmitates and stearates. They can be prepared by either a fusion or a precipitation method. The process ability of rubber is improved by any fatty acids but zinc soaps have been found to provide better internal lubrication. The potential of palm-based calcium soaps as animal feed is being investigated.

Epoxidized palm oil can be produced by reacting palm oil, palm stearin or palm olein with peracids. Epoxidized oils especially epoxidized soyabean oil are used extensively as plasticizer for plastics particularly polyvinylchloride (PVC). A plasticizer increases the workability of plastic while stabilizer reduces the rate of degradation of a plastic by heat, light or micro-organisms. Epoxidized oils can fulfill both functions and their compatability with a plastic increases with their epoxide content. Because palm oil and its products have lower iodine value than soyabean oil. The epoxide contents of epoxidized palm oil are lower than that of epoxidized soyabean oil. As plasticizer or stabilizer, epoxidized palm oil are therefore not expected to perform better than epoxidized soyabean oil but their performance could be made comparable by slight modifications of the formulations. PVC jungle and rain boots plasticized or stabilized with epoxidized palm oil have been produced which are comparable in performance to those plasticized and stabilized with epoxidized soyabean oil.

The value of epoxidized oils lies in the versatility of epaxide rings. Being labile they can easily converted to other useful functional groups, thus diversifying end uses. Epoxidized palm oil can be converted to various polyols by reacting them with short chain polyhydric alcohols in the presence of catalysts. By changing the ratio of epoxidized palm oil to polyhydric alcohols, polyols with a range of hydroxyl values and viscocities can be produced. Polyols when reacted with isocyanates produce polyurethane foams. The water foam in the reaction acts as an internal blowing agents, thus avoiding the need to use environmentally unfriendly blowing agents such chlorofluorocarbons.

Polyols from epoxidized palm oil react with isocynates at a slower rate than do polyols based on petrochemicals. The resulting foams however have regular cell structures and exhibit good hydrophobicity. With suitable formulations these properties could be fully exploited to give rise to interesting products.

Polyacrylate resins can be produced from epoxidized palm oil by reacting them with acrylic acids. These resins can be applied on solid surfaces and when they are cured by UV-radiation, clear glossy finishes resulted. The hardness and tackiness can be increased or reduced by varying the amout and types of crosslinkers and the strength of irradiation used.

1. Emollient effects
Makes the skin soft and supple.

2. Moisturisation
Provides moisturizing action to the skin.

3. Surfactant
Has cleansing property, facilities removal of oil or dirt particles from hair of the skin.

4. Easy Emulsification
Prevents separation of water and oil phases in skincare emulsion products.

5. Mineral oil replacer
Palm oil derivatives can replace mineral oil which is non-biodegradable and derived from petroleum.

6. Viscocity modifier
Influences the viscocity of the finished products i.e cosmetic lotion

7. Solvent carrier
Vitamins can be incorporated using suitable solvents for certain benefits

8. Conditioning agent
Conditions the hair in a shampoo

9. Refatting agent
Restores the natural oil on our body, which has been removed through applying a body shampoo or shower gel

10. Antioxidants (Vitamin E)
Provides a natural source of free radical scavengers that are useful for the treatment of aging or sun-exposed skin.

Biodiesel is a substitute for fuel, for diesel engines made from renewable fats and oils such as palm oil, soybean and rapeseed oil. Biodiesel contains no added sulfur and burns much cleaner than diesel fuel from petroleum based product. Biodiesel can be used in existing diesel engines with little or no modification.

Biodiesel can be effectively used as a pure fuel or blended with fossil fuel in any percentage.

Biodiesel is made through a chemical process called transesterification whereby glycerin is separated from the fat or vegetable oil. Transesterificaton chemically break the molecule into two products which is Methyl Ester (the chemical name for biodiesel) and glycerin (a valuable byproduct usually sold to be used in soaps and other products)

Biodiesel is better for the environment because it is made from renewable resources and has lower emissions compared to petroleum diesel.

Most candles are made through the timeless process of placing a cotton wick then molded, dipped, extruded, pressed, rolled, drawn or filled into a desired shape and size.

Surfactants, also known as wetting agents, lower the surface tension of water and enable the cleaning solution to wet a surface more quickly, so soil and contaminants can be readily loosened and removed.

There are three types : Soaps, Detergents and Surfactants.

• reduce poisonous carbon monoxide emissions
• reduce ozone forming hydrocarbon emissions
• reduce hazardous particulate emissions
• reduce acid-rain causing sulfur dioxide emissions.

1. Cognis Rika Malaysia Sdn. Bhd.
2. Fatty Chemical Sdn. Bhd.
3. FPG Oleochemicals Sdn. Bhd.
4. Denisco Ingredients (M) Sdn. Bhd.
5. Rikevite Sdn. Bhd.
6. Esterchem (M) Sdn. Bhd.
7. Dubois-Natural Ester Sdn. Bhd.
8. Uniqema Malaysia Sdn. Bhd.
9. Akzo Nobel Oleochemical Sdn. Bhd.
10. Akzo Nobel Industry Sdn. Bhd.
11. AcidChem International Sdn. Bhd.
12. Cognis Oleochemical Sdn. Bhd.
13. Iffco Malaysia Sdn. Bhd.
14. Natural Oleochemical Sdn. Bhd.
15. Palm Oleo Sdn. Bhd.
16. Pan Century Oleochemical Sdn. Bhd.
17. Pofachem (M) Sdn. Bhd.

1. Kao Oleochemicals (M) Sdn. Bhd.
2. Palm Amide Sdn. Bhd.
3. Southern Edible Oils Industries Sdn. Bhd.
4. Stabilchem Sdn. Bhd.
5. Baerlocher (M) Sdn. Bhd.
6. Mazumi Industry Sdn. Bhd.
7. KSP Manufacturing Sdn. Bhd.
8. Derichem (M) Sdn. Bhd.
9. Kao Soap (M) Sdn. Bhd.
10. Lam Soon (M) Sdn. Bhd.
11. Pacific Soap Manufacturing Sdn. Bhd.
12. Prime Oleochemicals Sdn. Bhd.
13. Unitata Sdn. Bhd.
14. Intermed Sdn. Bhd.
15. Paos Industries Sdn. Bhd.
16. Colgate Palmolive (M) Sdn. Bhd.
17. Iffco Malaysia Sdn. Bhd.
18. Carotech Sdn. Bhd.
19. Bio-Organics Sdn. Bhd.
20. Maskimi Polyol Sdn. Bhd.
21. Unilever (M) Sdn. Bhd.