A gaggle of scientists in Vietnam recently conducted research into using carnadol, a natural phenol obtained from cashew nut shell oil, to forestall corrosion of metal materials. The latest discovery makes cashew nut shells, long considered waste by many, the brand new “liquid gold” of Vietnam, making a market value a whole lot of thousands and thousands of dollars a 12 months.
Vietnam has been exporting cashew nut shell oil since 1999. Currently, Vietnamese firms export 600,000 tons of oil to China, South Korea, Indonesia and Spain, with an export value of $7 million annually and a profitability rate of 20%, in response to Voice of Vietnam.
In the past, China was the biggest consumer, but South Korea has replaced it. Do Nguyen Kien, director of FTE Technology Development, believes that cashew nut shell oil from Vietnam may even meet the standards of the American market.
Vietnam has great benefits in becoming the world’s production base for cashew nut shell oil. “Although cashew nut shells are a by-product, they’re the corporate’s fundamental source of income,” Kien said Vietnamese Network Bridge.
Cashew nut shell oil is widely utilized in industry as a cloth for the production of adhesives, anti-corrosion metals, insulating materials, electronic boards, forest products preservatives and structural woodworking fluids. It may also be utilized in the electrical and electronics industries.
Now, with proper treatment, Vietnam could earn extra money if more invaluable cashew nut shell oil products were developed, resembling Carnadol, which might make Carnadol one other promising export for Vietnam.
In countries with a hot climate and high air humidity, the demand for substances that may protect buildings, machines and devices from corrosion is especially high. Carnadol is an excellent solution.
Scientists from Youth Science and Technology Promotion Center (TST) led by Pham Quoc Nghiep used the strategy of extracting cardanol from cashew nut shells using supercritical CO2 technology. The obtained carnadol content was 23% with a purity of 68.6%. The product can protect the metal to a high degree of 84%.
It is estimated that one ton of dried cashew nuts will yield 700–750 kilograms of shells, which can yield 154 kilograms of cashew shell oil.
