Dr. Robert Nicol and Dr. Art Schaafsma, University of Guelph - Ridgetown Campus

Ridgetown Campus researchers and local collaborators have recently been awarded a CanAdvance grant to build a soybean crushing and biodiesel production facility on campus as well as to study the feasibility of closed-loop biodiesel production.

The closed-loop system is one whereby “waste” streams from smaller scale biodiesel producers (e.g. washwater, heat) are turned into resources and secondary products such as glycerine and soy meal and sold to local customers for non-biodiesel uses. This activity in effect closes the loop and captures value in all aspects of soybean to biodiesel production.

One of the potential criticisms of this decentralized production model is that the fluctuations in soybean quality (i.e. total oil and protein, fatty acids) could have negative effects on the closed loop system. Although fluctuations in soybean quality are expected in a system that has many producers using several different soybean cultivars, the effect of this variability on the biodiesel, secondary products and closed-loop system is not known.

This project is investigating the causes and extent of variability in quality parameters that are important for the closed-loop biodiesel system. Namely, soybean oil, protein and moisture content as well as fatty acid profiles will be determined for different cultivars, growing locations and oil extraction methods. The results will be used to optimize the system’s working conditions and to enhance the research and technology transfer goals of the new soybean crushing biodiesel production facility.