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Electrostatic Coagulation for Separation of

Crude Glycerin from Biodiesel

Article in Advances in Environmental Biology · January 2014

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 Advances in Environmental Biology, 8(1) January 2014, Pages: 321-324

AENSI Journals

Advances in Environmental Biology

Journal home page: http://www.aensiweb.com/aeb.html

Electrostatic Coagulation for Separation of Crude Glycerin from Biodiesel

Ahmad Abbaszadeh, Barat Ghobadian, Gholamhassan Najafi

Tarbiat Modares University, Jalale-E-Aleahmad Highway, Tehran, Iran.

ARTICLE INFO ABSTRACT

Article history: Limited energy resources and increasingly strict emission regulations have motivated
Received 25 October 2013 an intense search for alternative transportation fuels over the last three decades.
Received in revised form 14 Biodiesel is an environmentally friendly alternative diesel fuel consisting of the alkyl
January 2014 monoesters of fatty acids from vegetable oils and animal fats. As biodiesel production
Accepted 20 January 2014 technology changes, all aspects of the process are being tested and refined for faster,
Available online 1 March 2014 easier, and more efficient production. One such piece of the production process is
separating glycerin and biodiesel. The use of gravity method is not a proper solution for
Key words: production facilities looking to move to a continuous flow setup. Centrifuge systems are
Biodiesel, Glycerin separation, expensive as their power consumption is concerned to run and maintain and inefficacy
electrostatic Coagulation as circumstances change. In this study, to separate glycerin from glycerin-biodiesel
mixture a new method was used in which an electrostatic field caused by a high voltage
(more than kV) and low amperage AC current (mA) is used. In this method, the process
of coagulation particles or drops of glycerin in biodiesel-glycerin mixture from an
electrostatic field is done.

© 2014 AENSI Publisher All rights reserved.

To Cite This Article: Ahmad Abbaszadeh, Barat Ghobadian, Gholamhassan Najafi., Electrostatic Coagulation for Separation of Crude
Glycerin from Biodiesel. Adv. Environ. Biol., 8(1), 321-324, 2014

INTRODUCTİON

Limited energy resources and increasingly strict emission regulations have motivated an intense search for
alternative transportation fuels over the last three decades [1]. Biodiesel is an alternative diesel fuel consisting
of the alkyl monoesters of fatty acids from vegetable oils and animal fats. Biodiesel is defined as the alkyl
monoesters of fatty acids from renewable resources, such as vegetable oils, animal fats, and waste restaurant
greases [2]. Biodiesel production from abundant bio-sources has drawn the attention of the academic as well as
the industrial communities in recent years. However, one of the most serious obstacles for using biodiesel as an
alternative fuel is the complicated and costly purification processes involved in its production. The difficulties
involved in the separation of glycerin and other un-reacted reactants and by-products necessitate the
development of new competent low cost separation processes for this purpose [3]. As biodiesel production
technology changes, all aspects of the process are being tested and refined for faster, easier, and more efficient
production. One such piece of the production process is separating glycerin and biodiesel. The use of gravity
method is not a proper solution for production facilities looking to move to a continuous flow setup. After the
reaction , the glycerin is separated by settling or centrifuging and the layer obtained is purified prior to using it
for its traditional applications (pharmaceutical, cosmetics and food industries) or for the recently developed
applications (animal feed, carbon feedstock in fermentations, polymers, surfactants, intermediates and
lubricants) [4]. Removing glycerin from biodiesel is important since the glycerin content is one of the most
significant precursors for the biodiesel quality. The traditional means of removing glycerin is mainly by gravity
separation or centrifugation [3, 5]. Centrifuge systems are expensive as their power consumption is concerned to
run and maintain and inefficacy as circumstances change. In some cases, using centrifuge method leads to
transfer part of the biodiesel phase to glycerin phase. Ultimately, other methods need to be found to make
separation easy, fast, and less time consuming. The idea of using a high voltage current to separate biodiesel
from glycerin came from Graham Laming from UK. Companies also exist who use electrostatic charge to
separate insoluble liquids, but that technology is proprietary and made mostly for the oil filtration industry. In
this study, to separate glycerin from glycerin-biodiesel mixture, an electrostatic field caused by a high voltage
(more than kV) and low amperage AC current (mA) is used. The separation technique was tested on waste
cooking oil-based produced biodiesel with KOH as a reaction catalyst.

Corresponding Author: Barat Ghobadian, Tarbiat Modares University, Jalale-E-Aleahmad Highway, Tehran, Iran.
322 Barat Ghobadian et al, 2014
Advances in Environmental Biology, 8(1) January 2014, Pages: 321-324

In this method, the process of coagulation particles or drops of glycerin in biodiesel-glycerin mixture from
an electric field is done. The aim of current study, is to determine the effectiveness of a high voltage/low
amperage current on glycerin separation in a batch setting. Effect of different parameters including electrode
type (point to point, plate, rod and wire type), electrode distance (3, 6 and 9 cm) and voltage and current
intensity (3400V-112 mA, 6800V-56 mA, 10200V-38 mA, 13600V-28 mA) on required time for glycerin
separation from biodiesel was investigated.

MATERİAL AND METHODS

Materials:
Waste cooking oil was collected from of Tarbiat Modares University restaurant, Tehran, Iran and 99.9%
reagent-grade methanol (Merck, Germany) were used as the reactants throughout this study. The potassium
hydroxide (KOH) were purchased from Merck chemicals and used as the catalyst (> 99%).

2.2. Experimental setup and operation:

2.2.1. Biodiesel production:
In order to biodiesel production, Methanol and potassium hydroxide were pre-mixed to prepare potassium
methoxide, and then added to waste cooking oil in the reactor with a mixing speed of 600 rpm for 2 h at 50 °C.
The molar ratio of waste cooking oil to methanol was 1:6.

2.2.2. Glycerin separation by using electrostatic Coagulation:

At the end of transestrification reaction and methanol recovery, the mixture (200 ml) of biodiesel and
glycerin left 24 hr to settle completely. In order to determine the total amount of glycerin-rich phase was
separated by using gravity method. The amount of separated glycerin in gravity method as a criterion was
considered. in order to evaluate the Concluding electrostatic separation method, effect of different parameters
including electrode type (point to point, plate, rod and wire type), electrode distance (3, 6 and 9 cm) and voltage
and current intensity ( 3400V − 112 mA, 6800V − 56 mA, 10200V − 38 mA, 13600V − 28 mA ) on required time for glycerin
separation from biodiesel was considered. Figure 1 show the type and placement of electrodes inside the
container mixture of biodiesel and glycerin.

Fig. 1: type and placement of electrodes inside the container mixture of biodiesel and glycerin.

Results:
Effect of electode type on glycerin separation:
In this study, the time consumed to separate glycerin from the biodiesel when using four electrodes bar,
point to point, plated and wired type in various voltage and current intensity and different electrode distance
evaluated. The results showed that conditions a fixed distance between the electrodes, when using the point to
323 Barat Ghobadian et al, 2014
Advances in Environmental Biology, 8(1) January 2014, Pages: 321-324

point type electrode in all conditions current and voltage, the time required for separation of glycerin and
biodiesel has the lowest range, 19-45 s. Also results showed that the time required for separation of glycerin
when using of wired type electrode be maximum. Figure 2 showed the effect of electrode type on glycerin
separation.

Fig. 2: Effect of electrode type on glycerin separation.

Effect of voltage – current condition on glycerin separation:

Investigation of voltage and current conditions showed that with increasing voltage from 3400 to 13600 (V)
and decreasing of current from 112 to 28 mA, the amount of time required to separation of glycerin and
biodiesel has reduced (Fig. 3). This phenomenon can be explained so that increase in voltage leads to a
strengthening of electrostatic field and accelerating of the coagulation particles or drops of glycerin in biodiesel-
glycerin mixture. Results showed that electrostatic field intensity (higher voltage and lower current) has most
effectiveness in reducing the glycerin separation time but observations showed that the higher voltage may
cause a negative impact on the biodiesel and And safety considerations should be considered further.

110
Electrode distance = 3cm
100
Glycerin separation time (Sec)

90 Ponit to Point
80 Plate
70 Bar
60 Wire
50
40
30
20
10
0

Voltage - Current (V-mA)

Fig. 3: Effect of voltage – current condition on glycerin separation.

Effect of electrode distance on glycerin separation:

Results of distance between electrods (3, 6, 9 cm) showed by inceasing of electrode distance from 3 to 9
cm, required time for separation process has been increased (Fig. 4). The reason was that increase electrode
 324 Barat Ghobadian et al, 2014
Advances in Environmental Biology, 8(1) January 2014, Pages: 321-324

distance upto 9 cm (decreasing in electrostatic field) causing the decrease of glycerin particle adhesion
(coagulation) So more time is needed to separation get complete.
In relation to the distance between the electrodes should be noted that at lower distances between electrodes
them must be immersed in mixture of biodiesel and glycerin and the electrodes should not be exposed to air and
methanol vapor. Because this prevent the possibility of an arc occurring in the explosive atmosphere.

Fig. 4: Effect of electrode distance on glycerin separation.

Conclusions:
The results indicated that electrode type, electrode distance and voltage and current intensity were
important factors affecting the time required for separation process. Using electrostatic Coagulation method
compared to gravity method due separation process in time less than a minutes. Results of using various
electrodes (point to point, plate, rod and wire), various distances between electrodes (3, 6 and 9cm) in various
voltage and currents proved that point to point electrode with distance of 3 cm and higher electrostatic field
intensity has most effective reducing the glycerin separation time. The problem with this new method is how it
used for industrial scale but seems to be an applicable method in the future of crude glycerin separation from
biodiesl.

REFERENCES

[1] Abbaszaadeh, A., B. Ghobadian, M.R. Omidkhah and G. Najafi, 2012. Current biodiesel production
technologies: A comparative review. Energy Conversion and Management., 63: 138-148.
[2] Malhotra, R.K. and R. Sarin, 2004. Bio-diesel for energy security, environment protection and employment
generation, SAE Publication. 2004-28-030.
[3] Maan, H., S.M. Farouq, A.H. Mohd and M.A. Inas, 2010. A novel technique for separating glycerine from
palm oil-based biodiesel using ionic liquids. Fuel Processing Technology, 91: 16-120.
[4] Vicente, G., M. Martínez and J. Aracil, 2007. Optimisation of integrated biodiesel production. Part I. A
study of the biodiesel purity and yield. Bioresource Technology, 98: 1724-1733.
[5] Demirbas, A., 2007. Importance of biodiesel as transportation fuel. Energy Policy, 35(9): 4661-4670.

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