Ingevity: AltaVeg^® - Vegetable Oil-based Fatty Acids and Mixed Acids for Adjuvant Formulation

Over the past several years the Crude Tall Oil (CTO) global market has been strained due to strong governmental regulations. In December 2018 the Renewable Energy Directive, RED II, was enacted as part of the EU Clean Energy package¹. The directive states the established share of renewable energy sources as 32% minimum and for the transportation sector as 14% minimum – potentially increasing to align with 55% GHG emission reduction by 20302. In Annex IX, advanced biofuels are a committed target within the transportation sub-target. It describes the resources of the biofuel feedstocks which include Tall Oil, or refined CTO². With the increased use of CTO in biofuel production, demand has significantly increased. Since 2020, the demand for CTO has exceeded supply causing global constraints so much so there is an estimated 9.5% deficit in 2023³.

Due to the current CTO market conditions, Ingevity is taking a bold step to address the new market demands by diversifying its raw materials base while supplementing CTO with alternative biobased feedstocks. Ingevity has developed new biorefinery processes to produce high quality vegetable based fatty acid-based products that are comparable and great alternatives to Tall Oil Fatty Acid (TOFA).

Ingevity co-formulant offering for adjuvant

AltaVeg is Ingevity’s newest product line offering that is vegetable oil fatty acid based. AltaVeg D 603 and D 605 are made from 100% bio-based renewable resources, and comparable to TOFA. They are used as co-emulsifiers in adjuvant formulations for enhanced performance. 

Figure 1. Ingevity’s vegetable oil refinery products and applications scheme.

Below in Table 1 are the typical physical properties of AltaVeg D 603 and D 605. The AltaVeg grades have similar acid numbers, lower colors and lower cloud points which are easier to handle. Rosin content is tunable and increases from AltaVeg D 603 to D 605. In AltaVeg D 605, its rosin content is designed to be equivalent with that of Altapyne^® L-5.

Table 1: Typical properties 

Evaluation in crop oil concentrate formulation

Table 2. Crop oil concentrate formulation recipe

Formulations with AltaVeg D 603 and D 605 show excellent emulsion stability in both deionized water and 342 ppm hard water. All formulations have very minimum cream initially and after 2 hours, which indicates low foaming and excellent hard water emulsion stability.

Figure 2. Emulsion stability for 3 formulations in 342 ppm hard water at 5% concentration after 2 hours.

The formulation was further diluted, and their surface tensions were measured. The result indicates that the three formulations show similar performance in wetting ability.

Figure 3. Surface tension of the formulations at 0.5% in 342 ppm hard water.

Below in Table 3 are a list of Ingevity’s specialty vegetable oil-based fatty acid rosin blends for agrochemical formulations. Ingevity offers various grades high in Palmitic, Oleic, or Linoleic acids. The AltaVeg line features USDA Certified Bio-Based Products with the USDA BioPreferred^® Program. 

Table 3. Specialty AltaVeg Products

In summary, Ingevity has taken forward-looking steps to answer the TOFA market challenges with the development of its vegetable oil based AltaVeg line further broadening its product portfolio to meet customer needs. In adjuvant formulations, AltaVeg D 603 and D 605 show similar performance to TOFA. They are excellent bio-based co-emulsifiers and acidifiers that provide great hard water stability and good wettability. They are 100% bio-based, biodegradable, sustainable green co-formulants that will enhance both formulation performance and sustainability of your formulation.

Registration status

If you would like to learn more about the various AltaVeg vegetable-based grades Ingevity has to offer, please reach out to general@ingevity.com. 

Resources:

1. Renewable Energy directive. https://energy.ec.europa.eu/topics/renewable-energy/renewable-energy-directive-targets-and-rules/renewable-energy-directive_en#directive-20182001eu

2. Renewable Energy – Recast to 2030 (RED II) - European Commission. https://joint-research-centre.ec.europa.eu/welcome-jec-website/reference-regulatory-framework/renewable-energy-recast-2030-red-ii_en

3. The crude tall oil value chain: Global availability and the influence of regional energy policies. Journal of Cleaner Production, 2021, 280, 124616,  DOI: 10.1016/j.jclepro.2020.124616 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0959652620346606

This article will be published in AgroPages' upcoming '2024 Formulation&Adjuvant Technology' magazine.

If you'd  like to participate in it to show your insights and solutions or for any promotion demands, please contact Grace Yuan: grace@agropages.com