Company pleased with high oleic innovations

Emery Oleochemicals has been in business for more than 170 years, but they aren’t stuck in the past. Instead, they’re on the cutting edge of new bioscience. Emery Oleochemical is a global company with a facility in Cincinnati. They create building blocks for industrial lubricants, food packaging and interior car parts.

What’s new?

Although they primarily use animal fat, they were interested in trying more vegetable-based raw materials. So a test run in 2013 provided an opportunity to try high-oleic soybeans. “We were interested in this product but the cost of oil was high. The Ohio Soybean Council wanted to demonstrate its usefulness, so they covered a large part of the oil’s cost,” said Mark Durchholz, Business Development Director at Emery Oleochemicals.

Pleased with the results, the company did another run with the oil last year. “I think we’ll see big changes in the chemical industry over the next fifty years,” said Durchholz. “We are moving from petroleum-based materials to raw materials made using the energy of the sun.” Rising petroleum prices are an incentive to use alternative energy sources. Technology advances have made it possible to create building blocks using sustainable, plant-based materials. Soon, Durchholz believes, we’ll see more chemicals based on raw, renewable materials.

And who will be developing these materials?

“Smart, hard-working young people will be needed to make that transition,” he commented. Backgrounds in fields such as chemistry, chemical engineering, biochemistry and biology will be helpful. Durchholz said there will be more development in biogenetics also, with modifications to produce crops rich in oleic or other fatty acids.

Classroom connections

Students can learn about high-oleic oils in this e-learning course.

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