Major changes in the production of surfactants from natural oils and fats

Aug 23, 2018

Classification of surfactants
There are many methods for classifying surfactants, which are classified according to the source of the surfactant. Surfactants are generally classified into three types: synthetic surfactants, natural surfactants and biosurfactants.
Synthetic surfactant
Synthetic surfactant refers to a surfactant prepared by chemical synthesis using petroleum and natural gas as raw materials. The difference in properties of surfactants, in addition to the size and shape of the hydrocarbyl group, is primarily related to the type of hydrophilic group. Generally, it is classified according to the structure of hydrophilic groups. According to whether the hydrophilic group is charged, the surfactant can be divided into two types: ionic and nonionic. The ionic surfactant is further divided into cationic surfactants. Anionic surfactants and zwitterionic surfactants.
Natural surfactant
The oil crisis of the 1970s caused a huge impact on the petroleum-based surfactant industry, causing people to think about a series of problems such as energy consumption, process production, ecology and safety of petroleum products. A major revolution in the production of surfactants from natural oils and fats. Due to the application of new biotechnology, the development of oil separation and refining technology, the improvement and increase of plant oil varieties have made it possible to obtain a large number of high-purity natural oils with low prices. The development of new antioxidants has solved the problem of natural oil corruption. The problem of deterioration, coupled with people's awareness of safety and environmental protection, has led to the development of natural surfactants based on oils and fats. Palm oil and palm kernel oil are the most important among natural oils.
Biosurfactant
A biosurfactant refers to a compound having a surfactant characteristic produced by various microorganisms such as bacteria, yeast, and fungi. The production of surfactants by microorganisms is a new topic in the field of international bioengineering in the late 1970s. The use of microorganisms to prepare biosurfactants can result in many products that are difficult to synthesize chemically, introducing new chemical groups into the structure, and the resulting products are easily biodegraded, non-toxic, and ecologically safe. of. The biosurfactant can be classified into five types, a glycolipid system, an acyl peptide system, a phospholipid system, a fatty acid system, and a polymer surfactant, depending on the hydrophilic group.