Clariant signs MOU with DS Dansuk on adsorbent manufacturing in South Korea for renewable diesel, SAF production

Photo: Clariant

Specialty-chemical company Clariant hosted a memorandum-of-understanding (MOU) signing ceremony Oct. 10 with its customer DS Dansuk at Clariant’s Pohang production site in Korea to mark the commissioning of its Tonsil™ RNF series of adsorbents, which will be used for production of renewable diesel and sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) made from used cooking oil (UCO).

Clariant said the move further demonstrates its commitment to the Korean and Asia-Pacific market, where sustainable solutions are under huge demand.

The Asia-Pacific region is witnessing a surge in renewable diesel and SAF interest driven by environmental concerns and regulatory mandates, Clariant pointed out.

The market increasingly demands technologies supporting SAF production, such as specialized adsorbents and catalysts.

As the aviation industry shifts towards greener fuels, there’s a growing focus on developing innovative solutions to meet future renewable diesel and SAF production and utilization requirements across the region.

“I’m really excited to represent Clariant as we embark on an important partnership with a forward-thinking customer like DS Dansuk today, as we put pen to paper behind the production of the Tonsil RNF series of adsorbents and filter aids at our Pohang site,” said Seong-Wan Park with Clariant. “I strongly believe that our state-of-the-art technology and strong experiences in producing the series will help overcome many of the challenges faced with SAF production today.”

According to Clariant, the Tonsil RNF series is a high-performing adsorbent used in the pretreatment process of UCO and combines with Clariant’s technologies, production processes and mine sources to offer customers in renewable fuels production quality bleaching earth.

Adsorbents are indispensable in the removal of contaminants such as catalyst-poisoning metals, soaps and sugar from oils and fats during pretreatment and final fuel polish.

“As we all know, Clariant is a forerunner in offering sustainable specialty-chemical solutions to help customers like us do our job better,” said Jong-wan Kim, co-CEO of DS Dansuk who attended the MOU signing ceremony. “Based on experiences and success in pretreatment processes achieved by Clariant’s other sites in Europe and Indonesia, I have full confidence that commissioning of Tonsil RNF production here will play a huge part in contributing to the ramp up of HVO/SAF production in Korea.”

Commissioning of Tonsil RNF production at the Pohang site will see the first batch of products ready by as early as this month, according to Clariant.

“With the product’s combination of strong binding power and high adjustability, it will offer the pretreatment sector in Asia Pacific the much-needed flexibility and performance in the purification process, thus helping to contribute to CO2-emissions reduction in aviation in the region,” Clariant stated.