Filtration technology and a benign chemical could give processors of specialty oils a competitive edge.
Sodium silicate commands a 50 to 100 percent price premium over sodium hydroxide, and processors need the equivalent to 0.5 to 1 percent of it to the volume of crude oil as a neutralizing agent, depending on the acidity of the vegetable oil. But greater yields, more marketable byproducts and lower maintenance and capital costs can more than offset sodium silicate’s price differential. The technology also opens the market to smaller operators who effectively are closed out by the high cost of commercial-scale centrifuges.