Development Yields Antifreeze from Biodiesel
- From: "Blue Ridge Clean Fuels Inc." <brcfi@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: biofuels-forum@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Tue, 23 Aug 2005 20:55:34 -0400 (EDT)
August 18, 2005
Columbia, Missouri [RenewableEnergyAccess.com]
In addition to topping off your gas tank with biodiesel, a new advance could
let you fill your vehicle's cooling system with a biomass-derived antifreeze.
This technology can reduce the cost of biodiesel production by as much as $0.40
per gallon of biodiesel.
A new process developed at the University of Missouri-Columbia (MU) creates a
valuable secondary product from the biodiesel manufacturing process that makes
the production cycle both profitable and affordable.
Galen Suppes, chief science officer of the MU-based Renewable Alternatives,
developed a process for converting glycerin, a byproduct of the biodiesel
production process, into propylene glycol, which can be used as nontoxic
antifreeze for automobiles. Suppes said the new propylene glycol product will
meet every performance standard, is made from domestic soybeans and is nontoxic.
Suppes said this technology can reduce the cost of biodiesel production by as
much as $0.40 per gallon of biodiesel. The market for propylene glycol already
is established, with a billion pounds produced a year.
"The price of propylene glycol is quite high while glycerin's price is low, so
based on the low cost of feed stock and high value of propylene glycol, the
process appears to be most profitable," Suppes said. "The consumers want
antifreeze that is both renewable and made from biomass rather than petroleum
from which propylene glycol currently is produced."
The creation of a valuable secondary product could help mainstream the use of
biodiesel. In 2004, biodiesel producers sold 30 million gallons of fuel, up
from 500,000 gallons in 1999. It's still, however, a relatively niche fuel.
"At best, right now biodiesel production is only part of the solution," Suppes
said. "Current biodiesel production in the United States is about 0.03 billion
gallons per year as compared to distillate fuel oil consumption of 57 billion
gallons per year."
Renewable Alternatives is currently licensing this technology to three
biodiesel plants. The National Science Foundation and Missouri Soybean Farmers
are helping to fund the research.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION University of Missouri College of Engineering
Chad Freckmann
Executive Director
Blue Ridge Clean Fuels
tel: +1 434 996-4473
brcfi@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
www.blueridgecleanfuels.org
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