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. 2021 Jun 29;8(1):54.
doi: 10.1186/s40643-021-00409-y.

Parametric study of glycerol and contaminants removal from biodiesel through solvent-aided crystallization

Mohd Afnan Ahmad  1   2 , Arun Letchumanan  1 , Shafirah Samsuri  3   4 , Wan Nur Athirah Mazli  1   2 , Juniza Md Saad  5
Affiliations

Parametric study of glycerol and contaminants removal from biodiesel through solvent-aided crystallization

Mohd Afnan Ahmad et al. Bioresour Bioprocess. .

Abstract

At present, biodiesel is known as an alternative fuel globally. It is also known that the purification of biodiesel before consumption is mandatory to comply with international standards. Commonly, purification using water washing generates a massive amount of wastewater with a high content of organic compounds that can harm the environment. Therefore, this study applied and tested a waterless method, i.e., the solvent-aided crystallization (SAC), to remove glycerol and other traces of impurities in the crude biodiesel. The parameters of coolant temperature, crystallization time, and stirring rate on the SAC system were investigated. It was discovered that with 14 °C coolant temperature, 300 RPM and higher cooling time result in the highest percentage of FAME up to 99.54%, which indicates that contaminants' presence is limited in the purified biodiesel. The use of 1-butanol as the solvent for crystallization process remarkably enhanced the separation and improved the higher biodiesel quality.

Keywords: Biodiesel purification; Fatty acid methyl esters; Glycerol; Solvent-aided crystallization.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Transesterification reactor setup for biodiesel production
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
SAC system setup
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
a Sample solution before SAC method and b solidified free glycerol attached on vessel surface, and pure biodiesel remained in liquid phase after SAC
Fig. 4
Fig. 4
GC–MS chromatogram of crude biodiesel
Fig. 5
Fig. 5
DSC thermogram for crude biodiesel
Fig. 6
Fig. 6
DSC thermogram for crude glycerol
Fig. 7
Fig. 7
Viscosity curve of biodiesel
Fig. 8
Fig. 8
Viscosity curve of glycerol
Fig. 9
Fig. 9
Graph of FAME Purity against coolant temperature
Fig. 10
Fig. 10
Graph of FAME purity against stirring speed
Fig. 11
Fig. 11
Graph of FAME purity against crystallization time
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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