Glycerin Purification of Biodiesel Production Side Products by Distillation Method

Limited reserves of fossil fuels in the world, encouraging each country, the search for alternative energy sources is more urgent. One alternative to renewable energy is biodiesel produced from vegetable oil. Biodiesel is generally produced from the transesterification process of vegetable oils (triglycerides) and methanol with the help of alkaline or acidic catalysts. The biodiesel transesterification process will produce the main by-product of crude glycerin (glycerol), with an amount of about 10% by weight of the biodiesel product. With the rapid growth of the biodiesel industry, glycerin production has become a surplus. The glycerin crude produced in the manufacture of biodiesel contains a lot of methanol, KOH catalyst, soap, potassium, water and other substances. These impurities must be separated from glycerin so that they can be used and processed into other more valuable products. The process of separating the dirt can be done in various ways. One way of purifying glycerin is by acidification using acid. The salt deposits resulting from the acidification reaction are then separated between glycerin and its sediment. The glycerin obtained is then refined by the distillation method. From the results of the study obtained the highest glycerin purity of 90%