Glycerin disposal

[RossH Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close RossH]

Howdy Folks

I'm starting to gather quite a mass of tapped off glycerin and am now wondering what to do with it. I've searched the forum and see a few mentions of giving it to cattle though I'm not convinced that's such a good thing. I've spoken with a fellow who has suggested maybe burning it off at high heat so as to burn it cleanly. Probably a reasonable idea.

What do you do with your glycerin by-product? All comments welcome.

[adamjedgar Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close adamjedgar]

Re: Glycerin disposal

Hi,
Whilst i dont actually make my own biodiesel i do have some potentially useful info for you regarding disposal of glycerine. Australian Biodiesel Industries in Rutherford(30min West of Newcastle), aparently, sell their glycerine byproduct to the power station industry in very large quantities. Believe it or not, the power stations spray their coal with this stuff prior to burning it, so im led to believe, to improve its combustion.

Now ive not looked deeply into it, as i would have thought the coal burned quite nicely on its own however, the above is relayed to me directly from a lab technician at the Rutherford plant. You probably don't have a powerstation laying around in your backyard dying for a little nitro boost , nor is a large commercial station likely to purchase a couple of jerrycans of glycerine off you but....they might take it for free???(failing that, there are plenty of coal trains travelling in and out of newcastle you could dump some onto ).

[Cameron Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close Cameron]

Re: Glycerin disposal

I know someone who was soaking rolled up/tied up newspapers in it and using them as fire logs for their slow combustion fireplace. he seemed to be pretty happy with that option.

Cheers,
Cameron

[timorcoco Donating Member Find all posts View Profile Close timorcoco]

Re: Glycerin disposal

Biodieselers should take care with glycerin byproduct disposal to avoid bad publicity to their "cause" not to mention blocked drains ( dont flush it , very naughty).
I took mine to a biogas power station near Paramatta which digests food waste to methane for generating green power - their bugs love it!Cos I was a non-commercial greenie , no charge.This offsets the fossil-derived component greenhouse contribution( the methanol ).
Disposal into a landfill set up for future methane recovery for power generation would be a similar solution.
I also use glyc for space heating by dripping it thru a short coil of 6mm copper pipe with a small hole at the end( for preheat) into an enclosed fuelstove with a cast iron pot to contain surplus drips.Meth has been recovered first.
This stuff really burns ! & way hot.
If combustion is not complete , poisonous acreolin vapour can be produced.
Merely chucking it into a fire , soaked into paper or sawdust ,results in the glyc melting and running down into the bottom of the fireplace and posing a fire risk- and smoking/stinking badly.
Glycerine made with NAOH will be solid in southern winters , thus easier to dispose of in landfill .A great big worm farm would be another method too.

[Tony From West Oz Vice Chairperson of WARFA Find all posts View Profile Close Tony From West Oz]

Re: Glycerin disposal

The byproduct can be composted in an anerobic digester but you will need to pre-treat it to attain the correct level of acidity for best results. Anerobic digestion usually occurs in a moderately acid environment (I cannot recall the specifics) so any residual caustic and soaps may need to be neutralised first.

I have been advised that it will compost readily under aerobic conditions.
It can be burned, either as a fuel on its own, or in a mixture with other substances. If using a mix, the ideal is to avoid a mix which allowsthe byproduict to flow out of the mix. I use a sawdust/ byproduct mix which is very dry, but which will hold its shape if a handfull is squeezed together. (much like moist soil texture)

There is a paper on the use of the byproduct as a feedstock supplement of ruminants, but it does not indicate any pretreatment of the byproduct.

You can only make just so much soap, before the relatives stop accepting it as gifts.
Likewise, once all of your machinery is clean and your hands are too, what do you do with 200 litres of byproduct?

[Sauman Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Sauman]

Re: Glycerin disposal

G Day Folks
Thought I would share a wacky idea.
Now that we have so much Glycerin from all of us in here .Why not make a coop for collecting it.Then have a small scale purification unit in each localised area.Clean the stuff and sell to user.The cost factor will definetly be attractive to the end user and friends and family will not look forward to another chrisyy of soap presents.
Appilcation of Glycerin in different Industries is:
Applications

Drugs

• Used in medical and pharmaceutical preparations, mainly as a means of improving smoothness, provide lubrication and humectant.
• Laxative suppositories, cough syrups, elixirs and expectorants.

Personal care

• Serves as a humectant, solvent and lubricant in personal care products
• Competes with sorbitol although glycerine has better taste and higher solubility.
• Toothpaste, mouthwashes, skin care products, hair care products and soaps

Glycerine is a component of glycerine soap, which is made from denatured alcohol, glycerine, sodium castorate (from castor), sodium cocoate, sodium tallowate, sucrose, water and parfum (fragance). Sometimes one adds sodium laureth sulfate. This kind of soap is used by people with sensitive, easily irritated skin, contains no detergents. and prevents skin dryness with its properties. Foods and beverages

• Serves as humectant, solvent and sweetener, may help preserve foods.
• Solvent for flavors (such as vanilla) and food coloring.
• Humectant and softening agent in candy, cakes and casings for meats and cheeses.
• Manufacture of mono- and di-glycerides for use as emulsifiers.
• Used in manufacture of polyglycerol esters going into shortenings and margarine.
• Used as filler in low-fat food products (i.e., cookies).

Polyether polyols

• One of the major raw materials for the manufacture of polyols for flexible foams, and to a lesser extent rigid polyurethane foams
• Glycerine is the initiator to which propylene oxide/ethylene oxide is added

Alkyd resins (plastics) and cellophane

• Used in surface coatings and paints
• Used as a softener and plasticizer to impart flexibility, pliability and toughness
• Uses include meat casings, collagen casings (medical applications)and nonmeat packaging
• Plasticizer in cellophane.

Absolute alcohol

• There is an absolute alcohol production process by dehydration using glycerine.

Other applications

• Manufacture of paper as a plasticizer, humectant and lubricant
• Humectant for pet foods to retain moisture and enhance palatability
• Used in lubricating, sizing and softening of yarn and fabric
• Used in de-/anti-icing fluids
• Patent applications have been filed for detergent softeners and surfactants based on glycerine (i.e., alkyl glyceryl ethers) instead of quaternary ammonium compounds.
• A way to preserve leaves is to submerge them in a solution of glycerin and water.

Use a mixture of one part glycerin to two parts water. Place the mixture in a flat pan, and totally submerge the leaves in a single layer in the liquid. You'll have to weigh them down to keep them submerged. In two to six days, they should have absorbed the liquid and be soft and pliable. Remove them from the pan and wipe off all the liquid with a soft cloth. Done correctly, the leaves will remain soft and pliable indefinitely. Just a thought.could vey well be a business arm of each forum.The money can then fund other avenues of research. Cheers Sauman

[darren leonadas Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close darren leonadas]

Re: Glycerin disposal

I started a thread ages ago " what do we do with our glycerine??" . Great to hear someone else asking the same questions. Last time i ran this one the best thing i found out about was using it to split out water, FFA and crap from manky WVO. It works really well, use it to do a pre reaction split of your manky old oil. we are now homereacting BD with 97.8% methyl ester. Thats better than Spec!!! just because we use the glycerine to split out the crap and emulsified water.
Other uses, scrubbing dirty concrete, as a draino, neutralizing acidic compost and adding fertilizer and promoting microbacteria, as a bricky's soapafication of bricky' s mortar, saturate sawdust in an old milkcarton to make fuel bricks.
The list goes on. please add ideas to this thread.

[Sauman Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Sauman]

Re: Glycerin disposal

Now this is cracky.
Few home grown ideas for the Oz backyard.

• I was toying with the idea of using the cake from expelling and mixing it with glycerin and getting Barby Beads.
• A glycerin stove/heater
• A glycerin fired bar be

In fact when I get time I am very keen on designing a Clean green bar be using BD.Using atomiser principle and right designing it should work.
No more filling up on the servo .The shed has it all.Cook a shrimp on the green barbe.
Man this should be a hot cake ,something we could back market to the Yanks.

Cheers
Sauman

[Tony From West Oz Vice Chairperson of WARFA Find all posts View Profile Close Tony From West Oz]

Re: Glycerin disposal

Now this is cracky.
Few home grown ideas for the Oz backyard.

• I was toying with the idea of using the cake from expelling and mixing it with glycerin and getting Barby Beads.

• Sauman, this is excellent, You have caused me to have an Idea (first one this year :O ) seed cake from the oil press holds most of the nutrients from the crop (the crop residues hold the rest) and could be ploughed back into the fields. But with added glycerol, the microbal activity of the soul could be increased manyfold.
  sorry, not what you were proposing, but just had to interject.

• A glycerin stove/heater
• A glycerin fired bar be