EET's glycerol purification process, based on its patented and patents pending HEED® processes and equipment, is the economical solution for the purification of glycerol streams derived from the biodiesel industry (read more about biodiesel production) and from soap production by saponification. With EET technology, biodiesel-derived and saponification -produced glycerol can be refined up to quality requirements of USP grade* 99.7. Alternately, lower cost, intermediate purity grades can be produced for direct use, subsequent chemical conversion into other compounds such as propylene glycol, or further purification with evaporation or distillation. The EET membrane-based technology avoids many of the issues associated with standalone evaporation and distillation such as foaming, carryover of contaminants, corrosion, limited recovery, and high capital, energy, maintenance and operating costs.

The robustness of the process allows the EET technology to be applied prior to or after methanol removal for biodiesel-produced crude, over a range of feed compositions. In particular, it can purify:

• Neutralized glycerol streams containing methanol (before methanol stripping)
• Neutralized glycerol streams from which methanol has been stripped
• Refined glycerol streams which have been distilled or evaporated but still contain residual salts and organics and require further treatment

EET's glycerin purification process begins with pretreatment of the glycerol to remove any solids and fouling organics and partially remove color-causing organics. The HEED® or HEEPM™ system configuration is used, with customized automated controls and control logic, providing optimal desalting of the preatreated crude glycerol. The result is a colorless liquid with low salt content.

Glycerol Molecule

Other names

• Glycerin
• Glycerine
• 1,2,3 -propanetriol
• propanetriol
• 1,2,3 trihydroxy propane
• trihydroxypropane
• glycyl alcohol
• glyceritol

Specifications and Features

Feed and Product Characteristics

Technology Comparison