Improvement of the Crude Glycerol Purification Process Derived from Biodiesel Production Waste Sources through Computational Modeling

Abstract

Considering waste as a possible new resource for useful purposes is one of the strategies included in the circular economy principles. In fact, industrial processes are seen as great contributors to the formation of waste streams. With the aim to attain more sustainable and resilient systems, in this study, a process flow chart was elaborated in an Aspen Plus computer simulator, to obtain the production of pure glycerol from crude glycerol (a by-product of biodiesel production). This process occurs through fractional vacuum distillation, the methanol recovery route in the deacidification process and the removal of methanol from the reaction medium. The separation stages of the crude glycerol implemented enabled a degree of purification of 99.77%, meeting the specifications of the pharmaceutical use. The developed model allowed for the optimization of the purification process, raising by 40% the mass flow rate of pure glycerol. A conclusion could be drawn that the use of crude glycerol is an excellent option for the development of new products with greater added-value, contributing to the zero waste principles and to the circular economy.

Catalytic Conversion of Glycerol to Acetol and Acrolein Using Metal Oxides: Surface Reactions, Prospects and Challenges

“…The production chain of the biodiesel industry is ecologically viable, since it relies on renewable resources such as biomass, agricultural products and even microalgae. [47,48] In addition, modern industrial plant projects show that noninterconnected processes of products obtained from glycerol decrease CO 2 emission and energy demand, consequently increasing the profit margin. This point is important for increasing the ecofriendly character of the process and the evolution of the glycerol industry.…”

“…The main advantages are related to environmentally less aggressive processes, high productivity/yield and shorter reaction time. The production chain of the biodiesel industry is ecologically viable, since it relies on renewable resources such as biomass, agricultural products and even microalgae [47,48] …”

Purificação Simplificada do Rejeito de Glicerina Bruta da Produção de Biodiesel da Biorrefinaria Berso-UFPE: Uma Prática Sustentável

“…Estima-se que seja gerado 10% de glicerina bruta por volume do combustível produzido. Sendo assim, este subproduto pode se tornar um potencial poluente ambiental caso não haja o descarte e/ou reutilização correta (Sander et al, 2018;Chol et al, 2018;Barrios et al, 2021).…”

“…Atualmente, há uma busca por novos métodos para o tratamento da glicerina bruta, como a tecnologia de separação por membranas, que estão sendo bastante pesquisadas, mas que ainda são pouco viáveis operacional e economicamente (Aroua e Cognet, 2020; Nomanbhay et al, 2020;Chozhavendhan et al, 2020;Oliveira et al, 2022). O método por purificação química ainda é o mais utilizado sendo possível realizar um processo em pequena ou grande escala.…”

Síntese de single cell oil a partir do glicerol bruto: uma revisão sistemática da literatura

“…Porém, esse processo produz como coproduto o glicerol bruto, que por sua vez, necessita ser purificado para posterior comercialização (Alves;. O processo de purificação do glicerol bruto proveniente da cadeia do biodiesel requer um investimento maior que a glicerina convencional, comercializada atualmente (Medeiros et al, 2019;Oliveira et al, 2022). Assim, a destinação do glicerol bruto tornou-se um problema complexo, que caso não seja resolvido, transforma-se em uma grave preocupação ambiental.…”