Associate Professor Yoshito Takatsu of the Department of Energy Chemistry, Faculty of Engineering, Tokyo City University announced on March 3 that he discovered that calcium glycerophosphate can be produced as a by-product in the process of producing biodiesel catalyzed by limestone using waste cooking oil as a raw material.Calcium glycerophosphate is a highly functional and high-value-added material (3 yen / kg), and is used as a calcium fortifier for powdered milk, toothpaste, and pharmaceuticals.
Biodiesel is one of the renewable energies.It is practical because it can use existing vehicles, and it has already begun to be used as an alternative fuel for light oil.However, the current manufacturing method using alkali hydroxide as a catalyst has problems in terms of environment and cost due to the by-product of harmful waste liquid.Associate Professor Yoshito Takatsu has solved the environmental problem by developing a manufacturing method using limestone as a catalyst.However, the cost challenges remained the same.
This time, the discovery that calcium glycerophosphate can be produced as a by-product has solved the cost problem.This is because calcium glycerophosphate is produced by converting inexpensive phosphoric acid of 350 to 400 yen / kg into used limestone and glycerin as a by-product.
Local production for local consumption of energy can be realized if a mechanism for processing and consuming waste cooking oil discharged in urban areas is established.It has the advantage that it can be used for buses and trucks that use biodiesel.In the future, the policy is to work on further improvement of production efficiency while verifying the ideas so far.
