HD Hyundai Oilbank starts operation of new biodiesel plant

In South Korea, The Korea Times reported that HD Hyundai Oilbank has started production at its biodiesel plant with an annual capacity of 130,000 tons.

To expand the use of biodiesel, the government of South Korea decided to increase the current mandatory blending ratio of 4 percent to 8 percent by 2030 under its renewable fuel standard policy, according to the report.

HD Hyundai Oilbank said the newly built biodiesel plant in Daesan, South Chungcheong Province, is the first in the country to introduce a supercritical process. The supercritical process differs from traditional biodiesel plants as it allows for the production of products under high temperature and pressure conditions without a catalyst, the report added.

This enables the use of not only edible raw materials, such as soybean oil and palm oil, but also non-edible raw materials that are difficult to process due to high acidity, such as palm residue oil.

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