New use for glycerine by-product

[Guest guest]

David Soriano of the University of Pittsburgh-Bradford sent this - it is

about an interesting process he's developed for making a lubricant out of the

by-product. This is from a group for sustainable living and biofuel. I would be

interested to hear what people with Enviromental illnesses such as MCS and

allergies have to say about this please .................... blessings, Shan

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A description of converting glycerol into a natural lubricant with the body

and adhesiveness suitable for most purposes. The desired viscosity may be

altered by varying the additive amounts. The glycerol (I have used our

bio-glycerol from biodiesel production with no purification) is heated up to

just

boiling ( 25 grams) with

7 g. dextrin (carbohydrate obtained from potato or corn starch) and

3.6 g D-mannitol ( inexpensive and used in foods) . Stir and cool to yield a

light brown lubricant which has excellent properties with respect to

application to laboratory ground-glass joints found on round-bottom flasks,

condensers, etc. After application, it appears colorless.

 

The, what I call, 'green -grease' may very well find future use as a

'food-grade ' lubricant as well as other applications such as a bearing

packing. It

may also be a great material to apply to the glycerol-sawdust firelogs to

ease initial firing of the fuel and may help to even burning over the life of

the firelog. It may also be suitable for application to soil or for feeding

animals.

 

Some more information:

 

I used the glycerol directly from a methyl ester transesterification run. I

made no effort to remove any residual methanol . The flashpoint of the

glycerol was determined however before making the grease. It was 88 deg. C

(open

cup method) +/- 2 deg. Pure glycerol is around 177 deg. C There may certainly

be some methanol along with catalyst presence ( or the equiv. in terms of

some ionized glycerol).

 

Any comments, ideas for further uses?

 

David S. Soriano Ph.D.

Associate Professor of Chemistry

University of Pittsburgh- Bradford

Bradford, PA.

school website: <_http://www.upb.pitt.edu_ (http://www.upb.pitt.edu/) >

ph: 814-362-7544

email: [email PROTECTED]

 

 

 

 

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