Researchers at Biosolar LLC, Millbury, Ohio, have generated long-chain olefins from lard, tallow, olive oil, canola oil and waste canola cooking oil. Irradiation with ultraviolet light produced long-chain alkenes, dienes, trienes, as well as glycerol byproduct. The glycerol can be catalytically converted into acrylic acid and other essential raw materials for the plastic industry, note the researchers.
The results of their trials appear in a recent article in ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering.