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.