Print: | ISSN 0256-1115 |
Online: | ISSN 1975-7220 |
Korean Journal of Chemical Engineering,
Vol.27, No.3, 944-949, 2010 Purification of crude glycerol derived from waste used-oil methyl ester plant
The purification of crude glycerol from a biodiesel plant using waste used-oil as a raw material was carried out on a laboratory scale by using the combined chemical and physical treatments based upon repeated cycles of acidification to the desired pH within the range of 1-6 using 1.19 M H2SO4, allowing phase separation and harvesting of the glycerol-rich middle phase followed by neutralization of the harvested glycerol phase with 12.5M NaOH. Subsequently, the glycerol-enriched fraction was extracted by ethanol. The results indicated that increasing the pH of the
acidification step led to an increased yield of the glycerol-rich layer and decreased amount of inorganic salt and free fatty acids phase. Under strong acid conditions, large quantities of fatty acid and salt in the glycerol-enriched fraction were eliminated and, at pH 1, high purity glycerol (~93.34%) with relatively low contaminant levels (0.00045% (w/w) ash and 5.16% (w/w) MONG) was obtained.
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