Contributes to:
AAK Sweden
Sidestreams become renewable energy
The multi-oil site in Karlshamn, Sweden is the largest
and most complicated site in the AAK Group that
generates a number of sidestreams of different
character. AAK continuously work not only to reduce
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perspective.
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production, which for different reasons can no longer be
used as foods, is to turn them into products for animal
feed or to raw materials for our oleochemical fatty acid
production. Indirectly, our sidestreams (byproducts)
are used to increase dairy cow milk yields, to produce
candles, fabric softeners and rubber for tyres.
Unfortunately, not all of our byproducts are suitable
to be used as feed materials or raw materials for
oleochemical production. The fat and oil fractions, which
do not meet the feed safety or quality criteria for these
applications, are instead used to produce renewable
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treatment plant, the distillation residues from the oleochemical
production, and fatty acid condensates from
the deodorization and turn them into a valuable bio-fuel,
so called bio-oil.
The facility in Karlshamn has several boilers which
supply the site with steam and occasionally electricity.
Two of these boilers have the capability to use fat as
fuel.
With a thermal heating value that rivals fossil fuel oils,
bio-oil is a valuable option in our energy mix. The bio-oil
that is not used in our own boilers is sold to industrial
plants which have their own boilers or to power plants in
the region.
There are also boilers in Karlshamn that use wood
pellets as fuel source. Ashes from combustion of
wooden pellets are used as a fertilizer in forestry.
Thanks to this, micronutrients are returned to the forest.
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counteracted.
Other byproducts used for renewable energy generation
is for example our rapeseed screenings and
residues from our glycerol production. The rapeseed
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(from the rapeseed plant) that are removed before the
rapeseed enters our crushing plant. The residues from
our glycerol production is a mix of glycerol and fat which
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the rapeseed screenings and the glycerol residues
are excellent substrates for biogas producing bacteria
and are therefore sold to biogas plants in Sweden and
Denmark.
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an important step to creating a circular economy.
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