Foreword
Industrial Oil Plant: Application Principles and Green Technologies
With the advance of human society and civilization, nonrenewable resources
including petroleum will be depleted, and at the same time environmental and
ecological burdens are created by the increased use of fossil fuels. In order to
achieve sustainable development, a right balance in economic development, social
development, ecological conservation and environmental protection must be
established. Renewable resources have a great potential to displace nonrenewable
resources for ecological and environmental protection. Since the new century, plant
oil as a renewable resource has attracted a great attention for research and development in several industrial sectors. Varieties of intermediate products such as
natural fats and oils, proteins, starch and cellulose have been derived from oil
plants, which can be further converted to biodiesel, bio-jet fuel, bio-lubricants,
oil-based materials, polymers, surfactants and emulsifiers.
The book Industrial Oil Plant: Application Principles and Green Technologies
systematically introduces the underlying principles of industrial oil plant and related
green technologies for cultivation, harvesting, extraction and applications of oil
plants. First, various types of industrial oil plant sources, their cultivation and
product properties are introduced and examined comprehensively, with areas of
further research and development being identified and highlighted. Second, a solid
theoretical foundation is laid out on how to efficiently and effectively extract oil
from industrial oil plant resources, which is a critical step in the global development
of industrialized modern oil plant business. Third, various technologies and processes are introduced for converting extracted plant oil to different oil products,
materials and chemicals, and the applications of those green products. Finally,
potential environmental and ecological problems/concerns in developing a sustainable oil plant industry, including the protection of biodiversity and the balance
of the forest ecosystem during the plant cultivation and harvesting, are addressed.
The processes and technologies for green conversion of oil plant resources to
v
Industrial Oil Plant: Application Principles and Green Technologies
With the advance of human society and civilization, nonrenewable resources
including petroleum will be depleted, and at the same time environmental and
ecological burdens are created by the increased use of fossil fuels. In order to
achieve sustainable development, a right balance in economic development, social
development, ecological conservation and environmental protection must be
established. Renewable resources have a great potential to displace nonrenewable
resources for ecological and environmental protection. Since the new century, plant
oil as a renewable resource has attracted a great attention for research and development in several industrial sectors. Varieties of intermediate products such as
natural fats and oils, proteins, starch and cellulose have been derived from oil
plants, which can be further converted to biodiesel, bio-jet fuel, bio-lubricants,
oil-based materials, polymers, surfactants and emulsifiers.
The book Industrial Oil Plant: Application Principles and Green Technologies
systematically introduces the underlying principles of industrial oil plant and related
green technologies for cultivation, harvesting, extraction and applications of oil
plants. First, various types of industrial oil plant sources, their cultivation and
product properties are introduced and examined comprehensively, with areas of
further research and development being identified and highlighted. Second, a solid
theoretical foundation is laid out on how to efficiently and effectively extract oil
from industrial oil plant resources, which is a critical step in the global development
of industrialized modern oil plant business. Third, various technologies and processes are introduced for converting extracted plant oil to different oil products,
materials and chemicals, and the applications of those green products. Finally,
potential environmental and ecological problems/concerns in developing a sustainable oil plant industry, including the protection of biodiversity and the balance
of the forest ecosystem during the plant cultivation and harvesting, are addressed.
The processes and technologies for green conversion of oil plant resources to
v