Biochemicals
Biodiesel
Biodiesel is booming. The many different reasons for this success story include an environmental policy which is specifically promoting fuels from renewable raw materials. New biodiesel production facilities are springing up all over the world to transesterify vegetable and animal oils and fats into fatty acid methyl ester (FAME).
GEA supports the production of this biodiesel product in terms of both the pre-treatment of the oils and fats required and transesterification itself.
Two variants have proved themselves within alkaline refining: firstly so-called standard neutralization and secondly cold refining, which allows oils containing waxes to be winterized as they are neutralized.
GEA supports all refining processes, of which alcohol neutralization is the most economical variant. In this refining method, the process line uses a bypass flow of the transesterification stages to pre-treat the oils and fats. This completely avoids waste water and other waste products.
Advantages of GEA process lines
GEA process lines allow the following pre-treatment objectives to be efficiently realized:
- No waxes, making biodiesel more stable to cold
- No impurities, resulting in improved glycerin quality
- No gums to cause fouling in the thermal glycerin process
- No free fatty acids, reducing the proportion of MONG (Matter Organic Non Glycerin)
- No phosphates in waste water, reducing disposal costs
In addition to economical pre-treatment of the oils and fats, GEA also supplies all the components for subsequent transesterification.
The individual solutions and equipment used in these process lines has been developed and optimized since as early as 1996. They are both sophisticated and tried and tested; they combine stable process management with high product quality and are well established with producers of biodiesel.
Products & Technologies
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Aseptic valves & components
Aseptic valves face exceptionally high demands within UltraClean and Aseptic processes. You can be assured that they all provide highest quality in terms of hygienic design and sustainability.
Distillation Test Facilities at Karlsruhe R&D Center
With state-of-the-art pilot plants and test benches our R & D Center is optimally equipped for testing in the fields of distillation technology.
Ejector Systems
Ejectors, are devices for the conveyance, compression or mixing of gases, vapors, liquids or solids in which a gaseous or liquid medium serves as the motive force. They are "pumps without moving parts".
Evaporation Plants
Sophisticated systems integrating all components of a thermal separation process plant, utilizing various types of evaporators and heat treatment, to achieve maximum energy efficiency, sustainability, and economic viability in industrial processes.
GEA specializes in crafting bespoke evaporation solutions that precisely match each client's unique...
Other applications
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GEA Insights
GEA reports profitable growth for 2025 and expects accelerated revenue growth
GEA’s past fiscal year was one of significant growth and further profitability gains. In particular, the technology group substantially increased order intake, with all divisions contributing here. GEA also made progress in all Mission 30 strategic growth areas. In addition, GEA met key interim targets under its climate plan ahead of schedule. Major milestones in fiscal year 2025 were admission to the DAX index, the award of one of the largest contracts in the company’s history, and streamlining of the corporate structure.
How SmartParc is rewriting the rules of food production
Thanks to a new SmartParc manufacturing site, food processors in the U.K. are cutting their running costs and emissions. With GEA heating and cooling technology at its core, this collaborative production model demonstrates how innovation is accelerating the industry’s net-zero ambitions.
The food science playground
“Brewing eggs is like brewing beer.” It’s the kind of comparison that makes you smile – and then it clicks: Something complex suddenly feels simple. Through this personal film, set in the agricultural heartland of the U.S., we explore precision fermentation and the real-world work it takes to turn an idea into food.
