World Grain - February 2011 - 82

BIOFUELS QUARTERLY: UNITEC BIO DELIVERS

Unitec Bio key facts
Unitec Bio plans to double biodiesel production capacity in 2011, building a new 240,000-tonne-per-year plant. • The firm was assigned the largest quota, 113,097 tonnes, of biodiesel to sell in the local market during 2010. • The business plan includes in the long term to reach a total of four biofuels manufacturing plants in Argentina. after that, or at the beginning of 2012. “From the start, Unitec Bio developed its business with the idea of participating in the local market as well as exporting its products. After two years of existence, one of the company’s biggest accomplishments has been to become the leading Argentine biodiesel supplier for local oil companies,” said Raúl Bernardi, facility manager for Unitec Bio’s plant in Puerto General San Martín’s industrial complex. The company’s principal clients in Argentina consist of YPF, which buys about 40% of Unitec Bio’s products, and Shell and Esso, which each take 25% of the plant’s current production. Petrobras has about 10% of Unitec Bio’s sales. The ﬁrm’s nameplate capacity is 240,000 tonnes of soy-based biodiesel a year, along with between 26,400 to 28,800 tonnes of glycerin 80 per year and approximately 6,000 annual tonnes of lecithin. All of these products satisfy the quality standards from Europe (EN 14214) and the U.S. (ASTM D6751). “The company is producing only between 200,000 and 220,000 tonnes a year of biodiesel to conform to the current demand, although we could increase production if the clients call for it,” Bernardi said. STRATEGIC LOCATION Bernardi said the Unitec Bio project began in 2006, when the company carefully analyzed the whole Argentine territory to ﬁnd the most adequate location for a biodiesel facility. Finally, it was decided that Puerto General San Martín presented both logistic and cost advantages, since it is located near the largest soy production complex in the world. “The plant began operations in 2008. It took a $70 million initial investment and another $30 million in later investment for working capital,” said Peláez. “Installing the plant in the Puerto General San Martín industrial complex has been a great differential beneﬁt for Unitec Bio. The concept behind this idea was to be part of an interdependent complex that uses the existing resources with great efﬁciency, minimizing costs of transport and manipulation, which is essential for large volume industries such as biodiesel,” said Bernardi. For instance, to reach its current level of production, Unitec Bio processes 3,500 tonnes of soy oil a day. Being in the Puerto General San Martín complex allowed the biodiesel producer to form an alliance with a facility owned
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by soy oil manufacturers AGD and Bunge. “Given that soy oil production is a large-scale industry in Argentina, and that a plant such as Unitec Bio’s does not require an amount of raw material that would make having its own soy oil plant essential, we located the facility next to a large soy oil producer, Terminal 6, and it receives this raw material through short-distance plumbing,” Bernardi said. Getting this amount of soy oil is usually not an issue in Argentina, which is one of the leading producers in the world. Soy oil in Argentina is mostly exported because there is little local demand, with the exception of a few products sold through retail. In spite of this, Unitec Bio is thinking there will be a paradigm change in regards to the raw material. “Biodiesel producers in Argentina are used to buying the rural producers’ surplus, but we are evaluating other technologies such as biomass — cellulose and wood residue in particular — or bacteria. In the future, we aim to ﬁnd raw materials which are independent from the agriculture business,” Bernardi said. Locating the plant in Puerto General San Martín also facilitated distribution and exportation, being nearby the port installations of the Paraná waterway. “Having a port of its own, it is common for companies which manage large volumes such as Unitec Bio. Without it, a biodiesel company in Argentina would not be viable, since the industry is a net exporter,” Bernardi said. “The facility has the same connectivity and efﬁciency as plants that have their own ports and soy oil generation, without having to get involved in ﬂour and food production, which is not the core of the company’s business.” ROAD TO SUSTAINABILITY The Unitec Bio facility uses technology from Lurgi, a company based in Frankfurt, Germany, Peláez said. “The plant works with short mix alkaline reﬁning technology and manufactures biodiesel through alkaline transesteriﬁcation. It also possesses a complete system of methanol and water recycling,” Bernardi said. Unitec Bio has a warehouse capacity of 35,000 square meters in order to store its product. The company’s biodiesel process also creates crude glycerin as a byproduct, of which 100% is exported for pharmaceutical glycerin production. The facility produces small amounts of fatty fuels which are used in heat and sustainable boilers. The company is currently testing new ways to improve the use of these byproducts, Bernardi said. It is examining Glycos Bio technology to produce glycerin-based ethanol and Honeywell technology to create jet fuel through the processing of residual grease. “The main goal remains the same: to continue making
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World Grain - February 2011

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