ICP Spectrometer Selected by Imperium Renewables to Ensure Biodiesel Quality

Thermo Fisher Scientific (USA) announce that Imperium Renewables, one of the largest producers of biodiesel in the United States, has chosen the powerful iCAP 6000 Series ICP emission spectrometer to analyse biodiesel. The Thermo Scientific iCAP 6000 Series helps Imperium Renewables accurately measure the trace element content of biodiesel to ensure it complies with the strict worldwide regulations governing the biodiesel industry.

Biodiesel is an environmentally friendly, clean burning, renewable energy source made from vegetable oils, waste oils or fats derived from crops. It is compatible with today’s existing fueling infrastructure and can be used in many conventional diesel engines. Imperium Renewables can produce 100 million gallons of biodiesel per year at nameplate capacity in its flagship facility, Imperium Grays Harbor in Washington. To ensure product quality and compliance with strict government standards, the company rigorously tests its biodiesel for contaminants. Because this commitment to quality is onerous with such high product throughput, the company requires highly reliable analytical instrumentation for its routine analyses.

Like most biodiesel plants, Imperium Renewables operates under stringent ASTM standards. For biodiesel to be sold as a fuel or blending stock, it must meet a set of requirements defined in ASTM D6751 or European Committee for Standardisation (CEN) EN14214 standards. These standards specify the maximum allowable element concentrations in pure biodiesel finished product (B100). Until recently, the company
outsourced feedstock samples and finished product testing to a third-party, and this was extremely expensive, time-consuming and inefficient. As a result, Imperium Renewables sought to create an in-house solution, focused on ICP technology, that could save time, reduce costs and increase productivity.

Imperium Renewables purchased the iCAP 6000 Series ICP because of Thermo Fisher’s proven track record of providing cost-effective instruments and strong customer support. Lack of space also made the compact iCAP 6000 Series an ideal solution. Nathan Shenk-Boright, laboratory manager at Imperium Renewables explains, “We are now using ICP in our in-house laboratory, instead of outsourcing our samples for analysis. This is extremely beneficial to our customers as we can provide fast service and ensure the optimal quality of our biodiesel.”