Acrolein and other volatile organic emissions from the combustion of crude glycerol

Crude glycerol is an abundant by-product of the transesterification process used for biodiesel production. Recently, there has been investigation into the viability of crude glycerol as a boiler fuel for process heating. The main challenges of glycerol combustion involve its low energy density, high viscosity, and high auto-ignition temperature. Previous work has shown that a refractory lined, high swirl burner can overcome these challenges. Additional work has been done to improve fuel delivery, resulting in more stable flames. However, high sodium content and the possible presence of volatile organic compounds (VOCs), specifically acrolein, remain issues to be solved. Currently, there is no known reliable method of measuring unsaturated aldehydes from sources. Use of GC-MS and other techniques for such measurement were investigated, and results indicate crude glycerol combustion produces small amounts of acrolein and other volatile organic emissions on the same order as natural gas combustion. Further investigation of particle and gas emissions is ongoing.