APPLICATIONS OF FATTY ACID METHYL ESTER (FAME)

Fatty Acid Methyl Esters are used indirectly in a wide range of food, pharmaceutical,
cosmetic and industrial applications. Significant volumes of these materials are shipped
regularly by sea and care needs to be taken to avoid contamination with noxious materials
that could affect the safety of the final product and effect the processing of the oleochemical
itself. Commercial fatty acid methyl esters are made from naturally occurring edible fats and
oils by the esterification of the refined triglycerides with methanol in the presence of a base
catalyst. These 'whole cut ' esters can be subsequently processed into various alkyl range cuts
by fractional distillation. Fatty acid methyl esters are used extensively as intermediates in the
manufacture of detergents, emulsifiers, wetting agents, stabilisers, textile treatments, and
waxes among other applications. Lesser volumes of fatty acid methyl esters are used in a
variety of direct and indirect food additive applications, including the DEHYDRATION of
grapes to produce raisins, synthetic flavouring agents, and in metal lubricants for metallic
articles intended for food contact use. Fatty acid methyl esters are also used as intermediates
in the manufacture of a variety of food ingredients.
Before that, the production of distilled methyl ester can be used not only as biodiesel but also
as feedstock in the oleochemical industry for the production of degreasers, lubricants, green
solvents and others. The methyl ester are classifieds into three stages which are low, middle
and heavy. The applications listed below are arranged according to their category of esters.

Heavy cut methyl ester

For this type of distilled methyl ester, CE-1618 is categorized as a high cut of esters.
For the production of detergents, C16 methyl ester produced from fractional
distillation is used. Not only for the soap making, it can be used as chlorinated and jet
lubricants, defoamers, gear and rolling oils and ink solvents (graphic art). Besides, it
also applied as a methyl ester sulphonates, plasticizers, low-Voc solvents,
metalworking fluids and also for the solvents of paint removal. Meanwhile, C18
methyl ester (mixed) is utilized as a low pour point problem of normal palm biodiesel
when it is used in cold climate countries.

Mid-cut methyl ester

Mid-cut esters is commonly used in solvents or as a derivative building block for
personal care treatment. Example of this ester are CE-1270 and CE- 1295. These two
types of esters are generally used in the production of amides. Not only that, both are

needed to produce methyl ester sulphonates, rolling oils and low-voc solvents. In
addition, CE-1295 also used to produce isopropyl esters.

Light cut methyl ester

Light cut esters are now growing in the agricultural sector besides in the lubrication
industry. Examples of this esters are CE-810, CE-895 and CE-1095. CE-810 is more
generally used in industry compared the other two esters. It is utilized in the
production of amides, jet lubricants, plasticizers and low-voc solvents. Besides, it also
can be used as solvents for inks, paint removal and plasticizer alcohols production.

The listed below are few of methyl esters applications that serve several different applications
in industry according to their categorized of esters.

METHYL ESTER SULPHONATES

Methyl Ester Sulfonates (MES) from palm and coconut derivatives have been in the limelight
with the increase in the crude oil prices and the resultant increase in the prices of the
petrochemicals. MES offers an environmentally friendly and viable alternative to the
currently used workhorse surfactant alkyl benzene derived from linear alkyl benzene (LAB).
MES has been manufactured in Japan by Lion Corporation and in USA by Stepan and Huish
Detergents. Huish produces commercial quantities of MES in a free flowing powder form
while both Lion and Stepan have their products in liquid forms.
Several technologies for manufacturing MES have been patented. Huish, which has a plant
capacity of 80,000 TPA, uses the Chemithon technology for the MES and the Lurgi
technology for the methyl esters (ME). Chemithon has also supplied a pilot plant to the
Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB) in Malaysia, a customer in Honduras and a couple of
customers in China. The appeal of MES is based on its origin from a renewable oleo-based
raw material, its excellent biodegradability, improved calcium hardness tolerance and a good
detergency. MES also offers a viable cost alternative to the LAS currently used by detergent
producers. The challenges for MES in detergent use include the low foam characteristics and
the formulation constraints when using MES in a liquid form in a high pH environment. The
availability of MES in a dry free flowing powder or flaked form in recent years has overcome
part of the manufacturing issues as the product can be directly added to the detergent
formulation in a post addition step. The issue of low foam ability can be addressed by

inclusion of a lauric chain length or by addition of foam boosters like alpha olefin sulfonates
(AOS).
LOW VOC
There are two basic types of paint to choose from: water-based paints, often referred to
as ACRYLIC emulsions, and solvent-based paints. High-quality water-based paints offer not
just an excellent all-round performance profile, they are also a good choice from an
environmental perspective. Solvent-based paints, the more traditional type of paint, require
users to excercise a degree of caution to avoid potential damage to the environment. Solventbased paints are a source of potentially hazardous emissions called Volatile Organic
Compounds (VOCs), a family of substances that easily evaporate into the air to form
invisible vapours. When evaporating, the solvents contained in paint emit VOCs into the
atmosphere. VOCs react with oxygen in the presence of sunlight to form ozone
"bad" ozone. It is important to distinguish between "good" ozone and "bad" ozone.
"Good" ozone occurs naturally in the stratosphere about 10-35 kilometres above the ground,
which protects the surface of the earth from harmful ultraviolet rays and acts to protect plants,
animals and humans from its various harmful effects. "Bad" ozone occurs at ground level,
forms through the chemical reaction between VOCs, oxygen and sunlight, and is an irritant
for the mucous membranes. It can also cause nose, eye, and throat irritations; and can lead
to shortness of breath, coughing, and ASTHMATIC SYMPTOMS. This "bad" loweratmosphere ozone can also damage vegetation plants, trees, bushes and such impacts
negatively on those dependent on nature for their livelihood. This ozone also has a corrosive
effect on certain man-made materials: for example, it accelerates the deterioration and fading
of certain paints.
A further major consequence of VOC emissions is global warming VOCs play a significant
role with respect to the creation of the GREENHOUSE effect. Further, some chemically very
stable VOCs participate in the destruction of the stratospheric ozone layer (the "good
ozone"): this is the famous hole in the ozone layer.

PLASTICIZERS

Major applications for plasticizer ALCOHOLS include plasticizers, acrylate esters,

solvent uses and lube oil additives. Demand for most downstream markets for plasticizer
alcohols is greatly influenced by general economic conditions. As a result, demand for
plasticizer alcohols largely follows the patterns of the leading world economies. The major
end-use

markets

original EQUIPMENT

include

construction/remodelling, automotive production

and

MANUFACTURE(OEM).

The following pie chart shows world consumption of plasticizer alcohols:

Plasticizers are the largest end-use market for plasticizer ALCOHOLS, accounting for
approximately 45% of world consumption in 2012, down from 48.5% in 2008. Plasticizers
will remain the largest application; however, their global share has declined consistently as a
result of stronger demand for plasticizer ALCOHOLS in acrylate/methacrylate and acetate
esters. Plasticizer-producing regions, such as the United States and Western Europe, are
experiencing moderate growth rates, while Japan is expected to see slightly declining growth
for plasticizers. The plasticizers market in China is forecast to grow rapidly during 2012
2018. World consumption of plasticizer alcohols for plasticizers is forecast to grow at an
average annual rate of 3.8% during 20112018, mainly as a result of strong growth in China.
In 2012, 2-ethylhexanol (2-EH) and n-butanol accounted for nearly 74% of world
consumption of plasticizer alcohols, up from 70% in 2008, largely as a result of increased
consumption of both alcohols in acrylate esters. Significant consumption growth for both
alcohols will continue during 20122018; however, n-butanol is forecast to surpass 2-EH
consumption during 20132014. This is partly a result of the substitution of DEHP, the main

plasticizer derived from 2-EH, with other plasticizers derived from other plasticizer alcohols,
such as isononyl alcohol and increasing use of 2-propylheptanol.
Asia (including Japan), Europe and North America are the largest markets for plasticizer
alcohols, accounting for nearly 95% of world demand in 2012. Demand for plasticizer
alcohols in the United States is expected to grow at a moderate rate (2.0% per year) during
20112018. Western European demand will grow at 1.9% while markets in Central and
Eastern Europe are expected to grow at a higher rate of 2.3% annually. The market in Japan
will experience no growth. Chinese consumption is forecast to experience 7.0% average
annual growth during 20112018; consumption in other Asia is expected to grow at 2.0%
annually during the same period.
Stricter environmental regulations may affect and/or limit the use of phthalates. Consumption
of several phthalates is forecast to diminish because of limits on use; they will be replaced
largely by other phthalates, benzoates, aliphatic and specialty plasticizers.