Crude Glycerine Recovery

h i g h l i g h t s " Many recent studies reported that DESs are non-toxic and benign solvents. " This is the first time that toxicity and cytotoxicity of DESs were studied. " We found the cytotoxicity of DESs was much higher than their individual components. " Toxicity and cytotoxicity of DESs varied depending on the structure of components. " Careful usage of the terms non-toxicity and biodegradability must be considered.

Ocimum  sanctum  is  an  annual  herb  belonging  to  the  mint  family  with  150
varieties  worldwide.  Ocimum  sanctum  emits  a  spicy  scent  when  bruised.  It  is
believed  to  purify  expectorants,  and  called  the  “wonder  herb”.  Tulsi  is  pungent
and bitter in taste, pungent in the post digestive effect and has hot potency. The
roots, leaves and seeds of Tulsi possess several medicinal properties. Ayurvedic
texts categorise Tulsi as stimulant, aromatic and antipyretic.  It has a variety of
biological / pharmacological activities such as antibacterial, antiviral, antifungal,
anti protozoal, anti malarial, anthelmentic, anti diarrhoeal, analgesic, antipyretic,
anti  inflammatory,  anti  allergic,  antihypertensive,  cardio  protective,  central
nervous  system  (CNS)  depressant,  memory  enhancer,  antihypercholesterolaemic, hepatoprotective, anti diabetic, anti asthmatic, anti thyroidic,
antioxidant,  anticancer,  chemopreventive,  radio protective,  immunomodulatory,
anti fertility, antiulcer, anti arthritic, adaptogenic / anti stress, anti cataract, anti
leucodermal  and  anticoagulant  activities.  Its  leaves  are  helpful  in  sharpening
memory and in curing fever and common cold. Ocimum contains fixed oil which
is  confirmed  by  chemical  tests  for  glycerine.  The  plant  increased  the  physical
endurance and prevented stress-induced ulcers.

Biodiesel production from abundant bio-sources has drawn the attention of the academic as well as the industrial communities in recent years. However, one of the most serious obstacles for using biodiesel as an alternative fuel is the complicated and costly purification processes involved in its production. The difficulties involved in the separation of glycerine and other un-reacted reactants and by-products necessitate the development of new competent low cost separation processes for this purpose. In this work, a low cost quaternary ammonium salt-glycerine-based ionic liquid is proposed as a solvent for extracting glycerine from the transesterification biodiesel product. The separation technique was tested on palm oil-based produced biodiesel with KOH as a reaction catalyst. The study investigated the effect of DES:biodiesel ratio and the DES composition on the efficiency of the extraction process. The lab scale purification experiments proved the viability of the separation technique with a best DES:biodiesel molar ratio of 1:1 and a DES molar composition of 1:1 (salt:glycerine). The purified biodiesel fulfilled the EN 14214 and ASTM D 6751 standard specifications for biodiesel fuel in terms of glycerine content. A continuous separation process is suggested for industrial scale application.

Crude glycerol from biodiesel production is the main source for commercial glycerol
used in various industries. However, existing technologies for crude glycerol processing are economically challenging, especially for small and medium sized biodiesel
plants.
Historical importance and current market trends for glycerol production and consumption were briefly analyzed and described in order to predict glycerol market evolution. Due to strict environmental regulations, production of crude glycerol is expected to rise substantially until 2020 creating a great opportunity for economical profit
from crude glycerol processing. Today a big effort is being made in research and development for new applications of glycerol in order to adapt the market for glycerol
surplus originated by emerging biodiesel industry. These studies present promising results which may generate new potential industrial applications. Development of new
applications and efficient processing methods is crucial for stability in future glicerol
market.
This dissertation was elaborated in collaboration with a local small biodiesel producer. A purification process for low quality crude glycerol, based on physical and
chemical separation steps was developed using experimental data. Economical feasibility of the process was analyzed and tested for various market scenarios.
A simple and cheap experimental procedure for glycerol purification was developed and described in order to provide simple and reproducible instructions for
quality and process control in related future studies and process implementation. The
most important results for the purification steps were presented. Using the proposed
separation sequence, efective removal of Mater-Organic-Non-Glycerol (MONG) impurities and decolorization was observed. A yeild of approximately 50 % (% wt.) was
obtained and a purity of the final product up to 94% glycerol was achieved. However, the ash content was only slightly reduced since the product still presents significant amounts of salts 3-4 %. Various techniques were used to indirectly characterize
che-mical compositions of the obtained samples presenting simple and reasonably accurate methods for crude glycerol characterization. Methods like Thermo-Gravimetric
Analysis, Elemental Analysis and chemical tritation are very useful tools in low-cost
industrial applications.
Finally, the economical feasibility was analyzed for various market conditions in
order to define the most profitable process configuration. A discontinuous, easy scalable, simple and relatively cheap process was designed in order to evaluate necessary capital investment, which is estimated near 1 million euros. It was concluded
that the proposed process sequence is economically viable with present market prices,
presen-ting a Net Present Value at the end of the project of 455 thousands euros. It was
also noted that for 10 times the base capacity the profitability is much higher giving
a final NPV of approximately 11 million euros, showing great economical interest for
medium-sized biodiesel plants or even for plants dedicated solely for crude glycerol
processing, which can yield large profits especially when large quantity of cheap crude
glycerol is available.

Biodiesel production from abundant bio-sources has drawn the attention of the academic as well as the industrial communities in recent years. However, one of the most serious obstacles for using biodiesel as an alternative fuel is the complicated and costly purification processes involved in its production. The difficulties involved in the separation of glycerine and other un-reacted reactants and by-products necessitate the development of new competent low cost separation processes for this purpose. In this work, a low cost quaternary ammonium salt–glycerine-based ionic liquid is proposed as a solvent for extracting glycerine from the transesterification biodiesel product. The separation technique was tested on palm oil-based produced biodiesel with KOH as a reaction catalyst. The study investigated the effect of DES:biodiesel ratio and the DES composition on the efficiency of the extraction process. The lab scale purification experiments proved the viability of the separation technique with a best DES:biodiesel molar ratio of 1:1 and a DES molar composition of 1:1 (salt:glycerine). The purified biodiesel fulfilled the EN 14214 and ASTM D 6751 standard specifications for biodiesel fuel in terms of glycerine content. A continuous separation process is suggested for industrial scale application.

One and two-step methods for the synthesis of saccharin-6-carboxylic acid triglyceride were studied. The reesterification reactions of 2-hydroxypropyl-1,3-bis-ethersulfoimide of this acid and glycerol with some aliphatic saccharin-6-carboxylic acid esters were carried out. The resulting products are characterized by elemental analysis and IR spectroscopy and size exclusion chromatography. It was found that when using a two-step method, the end product is obtained with the highest yield (85%).

Biodiesel production from abundant bio-sources has drawn the attention of the academic as well as the industrial communities in recent years. However, one of the most serious obstacles for using biodiesel as an alternative fuel is the complicated and costly purification processes involved in its production. The difficulties involved in the separation of glycerine and other un-reacted reactants and by-products necessitate the development of new competent low cost separation processes for this purpose. In this work, a low cost quaternary ammonium salt-glycerine-based ionic liquid is proposed as a solvent for extracting glycerine from the transesterification biodiesel product. The separation technique was tested on palm oil-based produced biodiesel with KOH as a reaction catalyst. The study investigated the effect of DES:biodiesel ratio and the DES composition on the efficiency of the extraction process. The lab scale purification experiments proved the viability of the separation technique with a best DES:biodiesel molar ratio of 1:1 and a DES molar composition of 1:1 (salt:glycerine). The purified biodiesel fulfilled the EN 14214 and ASTM D 6751 standard specifications for biodiesel fuel in terms of glycerine content. A continuous separation process is suggested for industrial scale application.

h i g h l i g h t s This is the first time cytotoxicity and toxicity of phosphonium-based DESs were studied. Cytotoxicity of tested DESs was much higher than their individual components. This indicates the synergistic effect after DES forming. There was a toxic effect for DESs on studied bacteria. This indicates the potential application of DESs as anti-bacterial agents.