Glycerin, or glycerine, is a by-product of biodiesel production. Supply of glycerin in the United States and worldwide is projected to grow over the next decade as government policies and incentives favor increased processing of plant oils for production of biodiesel fuels (For every 9 kilograms of biodiesel produced, about 1 kilogram of a crude glycerin by-product is formed; ). Sooner or later, the amount of glycerin produced will exceed the amount consumed by the market today. The prices in the glycerin market will continue to drop and eventually, glycerin will become an environmental liability.
Currently, up to 10% of the dietary dry matter could be supplied by glycerol with no decreases in feed intake or alterations of performance in growing ruminants or lactating cows. However,
there are some concerns with glycerin as a feedstuff due to its contents of methanol and mineral salts such as potassium salts and phosphates.
Today, biodiesel production plants are in need of methods to realize increased income from this glycerol and solve the fate of glycerol as a by-product.
One of the potentioal solutions is to convert the crude natural glycerol to propylene glycol. Some of the benefits of this technology are to utilize the waste and produce propylene glycol from a renewable source raw material. Of course, this technology could be used in biodiesel production plants to increase profitability.
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