Glycerol
Traditionally from processing of meat. Newer sources are
from making biodiesel and from the still bottoms of
the distillation of fuel ethanol. Pure glycerol comes from
costly vacuum distillation.
Raw Glycerol
Glycerol from biodiesel is mixed with methanol and base (KOH).
Other contaminants are salts and unreacted organic
materials.
Producers sell raw glycerol to be refined for a
wide range of applications, including food additives and personal care products. The credit for this sale is used to
offset costs of production of biodiesel.
An article by Radich estimates the price of raw glycerol as $0.15 / pound,
Radich, A., - Distribution Drive, Biodiesel production methods, costs and available capacity,
www.distributiondrive.com/Article15.html
Little mention in the literature of converting raw glycerol to more
valuable chemicals.
Raw glycerol can even be considered as a fermentation substrate.
N E X T