Renewable chemical production from novel fatty acid feedstocks
View Patent ↗Disclosed herein are methods of manufacturing renewable chemicals through the manufacture of novel triglyceride oils followed by chemical modification of the oils. Methods such as transesterification, hydrogenation, hydrocracking, deoxygenation, isomerization, interesterification, hydroxylation, hydrolysis and saponification are disclosed. Novel oils containing fatty acid chain lengths of C8, C10, C12 or C14 are also disclosed and are useful as feedstocks in the methods of the invention.
1. A method of manufacturing a chemical, the method comprising:
(a) providing a triglyceride oil isolated from a cultivated oleaginous microorganism, wherein the oleaginous microorganism comprises an exogenous fatty acyl-ACP thioesterase gene that encodes a fatty acyl-ACP thioesterase having hydrolysis activity towards one or more fatty acyl-ACP substrates of chain length 8 to 18 carbon atoms, and produces triglyceride oil enriched in the chain lengths for which the thioesterase is specific;
(b) performing one or more chemical reactions on the triglyceride oil to produce the chemical; and
(c) separating the chemical from the reaction mixture after performing step (b).
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the oleaginous microorganism further comprises an exogenous invertase gene and the oleaginous microorganism is cultivated in a medium comprising sucrose.
3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the fatty acyl-ACP thioesterase gene is from Umbellularia, Cinnamomum, Myristica, Elaeis, Populus, Arabidopsis, Gossypium, Cuphea, Vitis, Garcinia, Iris, Brassica, Madhuca, Oryza , or Ulmus.
4. The method of claim 3 , wherein the fatty acyl-ACP thioesterase gene is from Umbellularia, Cinnamomum, Myristica, Elaeis, Populus, Cuphea , or Iris.
5. The method of claim 3 , wherein the fatty acyl-ACP thioesterase gene is from Elaeis, Arabidopsis, Gossypium, Vitis, Garcinia, Brassica, Madhuca, Oryza , or Ulmus.
6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the one or more chemical reactions comprise amination, ozonolysis, transesterification, hydrogenation, hydrocracking, hydroprocessing, hydrotreating, fluid catalytic cracking, hydrodeoxygenation, hydrodesulfurization, epoxidation, deoxygenation, isomerization, interestification, directed interestification, hydroxylation and/or hydrolysis.
7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the chemical comprises a fatty acid, a fatty acid methyl ester, a fatty nitrile, an ester, a dimer acid, a quat, a surfactant, a fatty alkanolamide, a fatty alcohol sulfate, a resin, an emulsifier, a fatty alcohol, an olefin, a higher alkane, a linear alkylbenzyl sulfonate, or a sulfated fatty acid.
8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the triglyceride oil is blended with at least one of the following oils before performing the one or more chemical reactions: soy, rapeseed, canola, palm, palm kernel, coconut, corn, waste vegetable, Chinese tallow, olive, sunflower, cotton seed, chicken fat, beef tallow, porcine tallow, microalgal, macroalgal, Cuphea , flax, peanut, choice white grease, lard, Camelina sativa, mustard seed, cashew nut, oats, lupine kenaf, calendula , hemp, coffee, hazelnut, euphorbia , pumpkin seed, coriander, camellia, sesame, safflower, rice, tung tree, cocoa, copra, plum poppy, castor bean, pecan, jojoba, macademia , Brazil nut, avocado, petroleum, or a distillate fraction of any of the proceeding oils.
9. The method of claim 8 , wherein the chemical comprises a fatty acid, a fatty acid methyl ester, a fatty nitrile, an ester, a dimer acid, a quat, a surfactant, a fatty alkanolamide, a fatty alcohol sulfate, a resin, an emulsifier, a fatty alcohol, an olefin, a higher alkane, a linear alkylbenzyl sulfonate, or a sulfated fatty acid.
10. The method of claim 1 , wherein the oleaginous microorganism is an obligate heterotroph.
11. The method of claim 1 , wherein the oleaginous microorganism is a microalga.
12. The method of claim 11 , wherein the microalga is an obligate heterotroph.
13. The method of claim 11 , wherein the microalga is of the genus Prototheca or Chlorella.
14. The method of claim 13 , wherein the microalga is of the species Prototheca moriformis.
15. The method of claim 11 , wherein the one or more chemical reactions comprise amination.
16. The method of claim 11 , wherein the one or more chemical reactions comprise ozonolysis.
17. The method of claim 11 , wherein the one or more chemical reactions comprise transesterification.
18. The method of claim 11 , wherein the one or more chemical reactions comprise hydrogenation.
19. The method of claim 11 , wherein the one or more chemical reactions comprise hydrocracking.
20. The method of claim 11 , wherein the one or more chemical reactions comprise hydroprocessing.
21. The method of claim 11 , wherein the one or more chemical reactions comprise hydrotreating.
22. The method of claim 11 , wherein the one or more chemical reactions comprise fluid catalytic cracking.
23. The method of claim 11 , wherein the one or more chemical reactions comprise hydrodeoxygenation.
24. The method of claim 11 , wherein the one or more chemical reactions comprise hydrodesulfurization.
25. The method of claim 11 , wherein the one or more chemical reactions comprise epoxidation.
26. The method of claim 11 , wherein the one or more chemical reactions comprise deoxygenation.
27. The method of claim 11 , wherein the one or more chemical reactions comprise isomerization.
28. The method of claim 11 , wherein the one or more chemical reactions comprise interestification.
29. The method of claim 11 , wherein the one or more chemical reactions comprise directed interestification.
30. The method of claim 11 , wherein the one or more chemical reactions comprise hydroxylation.
31. The method of claim 11 , wherein the one or more chemical reactions comprise hydrolysis.
32. The method of claim 31 , wherein the one or more chemical reactions comprise saponification.
33. The method of claim 1 , wherein the fatty acyl-ACP thioesterase gene is from Cinnamomum camphora.
34. The method of claim 1 , wherein the fatty acyl-ACP thioesterase gene is from Cuphea palustris.
35. The method of claim 1 , wherein the triglyceride oil comprises at least 4% by weight of fatty acids having a chain length of 8 to 14 carbons (C8-C14).