Reducing the carbon footprint of the lubricants industry by the substitution of mineral oil with rapeseed oil (RM062/LK0843)

Find Similar History 18 Claim Ownership Request Data Change Add Favourite

Title
Reducing the carbon footprint of the lubricants industry by the substitution of mineral oil with rapeseed oil (RM062/LK0843)

CoPED ID
8dc89393-3dbe-49b4-ad1e-8d8045d01d39

Status
Closed


Value
£2,144,570

Start Date
March 31, 2008

End Date
July 31, 2013

Description

More Like This


Bio-lubricants have both environmental and technical advantages over their counterparts derived from mineral oils. In addition to being renewable, they are biodegradable, have lower volatile emissions and low environmental toxicity. They provide superior anti-wear protection and exhibit reduced combustibility. In addition, bio-lubricants have lower coefficients of friction, which results in reduced energy costs for equipment in which bio-lubricants as used. Although vegetable oils are used in blending some less stressed lubricants, their thermal stability is inadequate for the majority of applications as a consequence of the presence of excessive polyunsaturation of their constituent fatty acids. In view of the poor stability of conventional refined rapeseed oil, lubricant blenders currently favour the use of synthetic esters with a high renewables content of the production of the more stressed lubricant types; this more expensive base oil currently inhibits uptake of bio-lubricants by end users. Rapeseed oil has many physical and chemical properties that are advantageous for base oil for the lubricants industry. However, the total content of polyunsaturated fatty acids remains too high and the resulting instability is the principal barrier to its widespread use. The target set by the industry is reduction to less than 5% total PUFAs, whilst retaining the other desirable physical and chemical properties of rapeseed oil. To be economically competitive, some yield penalty in the crop and increased processing costs can be tolerated, as its principal competitor in the market place, low PUFA sunflower oil, is presently priced at up to $120/tonne more on the commodity markets. Nevertheless, the approaches we propose should result in little, if any, yield loss from fully developed varieties. The purpose of the project is to underpin the development of oilseed rape varieties for the production of oil for use in the lubricants industry. A key knowledge gap is an understanding of how to substantially reduce the content of polyunsaturated fatty acids in rapeseed oil without reducing the oil yield of the crop. We will address this knowledge gap and enable establishment of a closed supply chain. This involves: (a) The genetic improvement of oilseed rape by mutagenesis of specific genes in order to produce, from a high-yielding winter crop, oil very low in polyunsaturated fatty acids. (b) Assessment of the physical properties of the oil produced in order to validate its utility. (c) Provision of characterised oilseed rape lines to the breeding industry for the development of cultivars. (d) Catalysing assembly of a supply chain. The strategy is non-GM, so we anticipate no barriers to the widespread utilization of the resultant varieties in the UK.


More Information


Technical Abstract:
The purpose of the project is to underpin the development of oilseed rape varieties for the production of oil for use in the lubricants industry. Excessive content of polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) in rapeseed oil produced from high-yielding winter varieties severely limits its use in all but the least stressed applications. A key knowledge gap is an understanding of how to substantially reduce oil PUFA content without reducing the oil yield of the crop. We will address this knowledge gap and enable establishment of a closed supply chain. This involves: (a) The genetic improvement of oilseed rape by mutagenesis of specific genes (orthologues of the Arabidopsis thaliana genes FAD2 and RFC4) in order to produce, from a high-yielding winter crop, oil very low in PUFAs. (b) Assessment of the physical properties of the oil produced in order to validate its utility, including an analysis of the impact of selective hydrogenation. (c) Provision of characterised oilseed rape lines to the breeding industry for the development of cultivars. (d) Catalysing assembly of a supply chain. The strategy is non-GM, so we anticipate no barriers to the widespread utilization of the resultant varieties in the UK.

Ian Bancroft PI_PER

Subjects by relevance
  1. Oil plants
  2. Rapeseed
  3. Plant breeding
  4. Varieties
  5. Vegetable oils
  6. Fatty acids
  7. Oil
  8. Refining
  9. Lubricants
  10. Supply chains

Extracted key phrases
  1. Low PUFA sunflower oil
  2. Conventional refined rapeseed oil
  3. Oil PUFA content
  4. Oil yield
  5. Mineral oil
  6. Expensive base oil
  7. Vegetable oil
  8. Lubricant industry
  9. Stressed lubricant type
  10. Lubricant blender
  11. Oilseed rape variety
  12. Polyunsaturated fatty acid
  13. Oilseed rape line
  14. Breeding industry
  15. Carbon footprint

Related Pages

UKRI project entry

UK Project Locations