Chapter 8
Oleochemistry Products
Riccardo Tesser, Rosa Vitiello, Vincenzo Russo, Rosa Turco,
Martino Di Serio, Lin Lin, and Changzhu Li
Abstract To overcome the well-known environmental problems, in recent years the
attention of many researchers worldwide has been directed towards the replacement
of petrochemical raw materials with renewable ones such as, for example, plant
oils. Among the reasons that lead to the replacement of petrochemical raw materials
with greener ones are the high CO 2 emissions, the contamination of the aquatic
environment, the lack of adequacy of production, the greenhouse effects and, above
all, because petrochemical raw materials are non-renewable. Oleochemicals, on the
contrary, are renewable chemical substances derived from plant oils and other fats,
including animal fats, or even synthesized from the metabolism of microorganisms.
In some cases, oleochemicals are also produced as by-products from the biofuel
production. In this chapter, an attempt has been made to review and discuss this
trend in chemicals productions according to which petrochemicals were replaced by
oleochemical raw materials derived from plant oils and obtaining, in the meantime,
products with a comparable quality. Edible vegetable oils are not well accepted as
oleochemicals feedstock because that will have competition with food usage; on the
contrary, a vast class of non-edible oil plants (castor, linseed, soybean, palm, rapeseed,
camelina, tall, jatropha, mahua, etc.), are preferred in this regard. Many feedstock
could be successfully obtained from plant oils, i.e. fatty acids, long-chain fatty acid
R. Tesser (B) · R. Vitiello · V. Russo · R. Turco · M. Di Serio
Department of Chemical Sciences, University of Naples Federico II, 80126 Naples, Italy
e-mail: riccardo.tesser@unina.it
V. Russo
Åbo Akademi, Laboratory of Industrial Chemistry and Reaction Engineering, 20500 Piispankatu,
Turku, Finland
M. Di Serio
IROAST, Kumamoto University, Kumamoto 860-8555, Japan
L. Lin
School of Food and Biological Engineering, Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang 212013, China
L. Lin · C. Li
National Joint Laboratory of Oil Energy Plants High Efficient Conversion, Beijing 410004, China
C. Li
Hunan Academy of Forestry, Changsha 410004, China
© Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2020
C. Li et al. (eds.), Industrial Oil Plant,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-4920-5_8
201
Oleochemistry Products
Riccardo Tesser, Rosa Vitiello, Vincenzo Russo, Rosa Turco,
Martino Di Serio, Lin Lin, and Changzhu Li
Abstract To overcome the well-known environmental problems, in recent years the
attention of many researchers worldwide has been directed towards the replacement
of petrochemical raw materials with renewable ones such as, for example, plant
oils. Among the reasons that lead to the replacement of petrochemical raw materials
with greener ones are the high CO 2 emissions, the contamination of the aquatic
environment, the lack of adequacy of production, the greenhouse effects and, above
all, because petrochemical raw materials are non-renewable. Oleochemicals, on the
contrary, are renewable chemical substances derived from plant oils and other fats,
including animal fats, or even synthesized from the metabolism of microorganisms.
In some cases, oleochemicals are also produced as by-products from the biofuel
production. In this chapter, an attempt has been made to review and discuss this
trend in chemicals productions according to which petrochemicals were replaced by
oleochemical raw materials derived from plant oils and obtaining, in the meantime,
products with a comparable quality. Edible vegetable oils are not well accepted as
oleochemicals feedstock because that will have competition with food usage; on the
contrary, a vast class of non-edible oil plants (castor, linseed, soybean, palm, rapeseed,
camelina, tall, jatropha, mahua, etc.), are preferred in this regard. Many feedstock
could be successfully obtained from plant oils, i.e. fatty acids, long-chain fatty acid
R. Tesser (B) · R. Vitiello · V. Russo · R. Turco · M. Di Serio
Department of Chemical Sciences, University of Naples Federico II, 80126 Naples, Italy
e-mail: riccardo.tesser@unina.it
V. Russo
Åbo Akademi, Laboratory of Industrial Chemistry and Reaction Engineering, 20500 Piispankatu,
Turku, Finland
M. Di Serio
IROAST, Kumamoto University, Kumamoto 860-8555, Japan
L. Lin
School of Food and Biological Engineering, Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang 212013, China
L. Lin · C. Li
National Joint Laboratory of Oil Energy Plants High Efficient Conversion, Beijing 410004, China
C. Li
Hunan Academy of Forestry, Changsha 410004, China
© Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2020
C. Li et al. (eds.), Industrial Oil Plant,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-4920-5_8
201