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Is there any waste byproduct of the biodiesel making process, and how do I handle that? 

This can be one of the difficult aspects of making Biodiesel, even for commercial producers.  Making Biodiesel creates a byproduct of glycerin, also known as glycerol, and glycerin.  Glycerin coming out of your processor is usually only 50% glycerol/40% methanol & 10% soap&catalyst.

Glycerin created using NaOH & methanol will harden over time, (sometimes quite quickly), whereas glycerin created using KOH will stay liquid longer.  This can be a definite advantage.  But note that how hard the glycerin gets, has no correlation to the quality of Biodiesel you have made.

Before you try to use the glycerin for anything, remove the methanol for safety purposes.  There are several possible methods, so how you do it is up to you.  There is misinformation out there that suggests you can just leave the glycerin in a bucket with no lid on it for a week and the methanol will evaporate.  But that’s not true because glycerin ends up with a hard film on the top that would prevent the methanol from escaping.  I think that with liquid glycerin from KOH you could stir it every day for a week in a bucket outdoors and you can accomplish the evaporation, but I haven’t tried it.   

Or you can run it through a methanol recovery system first.  I’ll discuss methanol recovery a little later.

Be aware that the byproduct of glycerin is laden with methanol. One way to dispose of it involves pouring it into 5-gallon buckets or cubees, leaving no air gaps at the top and disposing of it at a landfill. If you store it long term then you should make sure you either store it open to the air & stir it periodically so that most of the methanol can evaporate or in closed containers with no air gap so the methanol can not evaporate. A man grinding on a tank that was partially filled with methanol-laden byproduct caused the only known Biodiesel death.

USES-

Make money with it.  That’s right, you can get about $1.00/ gallon for your glycerin by selling it as a Humectant, or Dust Abatement treatment.  Glycerin is hygroscopic, meaning it draws moisture from the air.  So when sprayed on dusty roads, riding arenas, construction sites, etc, it will continually draw a small amount of moisture into the soil or sand, helping to keep the dust down by minimizing water evaporation. 

There are some tips and tricks you need to know and things you have to do to the glycerin to use it for this, but we provide our customers with full details on how to make money with your glycerin on our customer only website at: www.myezbiodiesel.com

In the Old Days road crews used to spray motor oil on dirt roads to keep the dust down.  Of course we’ve learned this is not a wise thing to do so the common method these days is to use Mag Chloride.  Glycerin however, is very environmentally safe (with the glycerin removed first) and is re-using the byproduct of biodiesel, so it’s a win-win situation.  

Soap- Of course I can go without mentioning that you can make soap with it.  But if you made soap from all your glycerin you’d have everyone you know well stocked for years.  So if you’re interested in this method, search the internet for some soap recipes from biodiesel glycerin. 

Compost- Or you can often find a local composting facility that is either commercial or free at you local landfill.  They will often accept the glycerin as the methanol actually feeds the compost bacteria.  Or compost it yourself.  But don’t add to much or you’ll drown the compost. 

Burn it- Some have tried burning it by adding other material such as wood chips to it and forming logs in milk cartons, etc, with limited success.  Although a new company is said to be successful with the idea by using pressure to form the logs. 

Vericulture- Others are experimenting with vericulture whereby a large wormbed is grown and the worms feed on the glycerin rich soil. But little is known about the success of this idea yet. 

Hand Cleaner- To use it for a hand cleaner or degreaser you could boil it for quite awhile to remove the methanol.  Once you’ve done that it makes an Excellent degreaser.  But don’t use it as a cleaner until you remove the methanol for safety reasons. 

Antifreeze substitute- Large scale producers like Archer Daniels Midland (ADM™) are planning on producing a propylene glycol and ethylene glycol substitute from the glycerin.  Others are looking at using it in animal feed, as a fuel, etc.  Most ideas are still in the testing stage at this point. 

But DON’T just pour it down your storm drain, or your sewer system, as most systems can’t really handle that much glycerin at a time, and it could cause you problems.

Waste Water disposal