Diversified Energy(R) Demonstrates Innovative Glycerol Combustion System, Files Patent, and Engages Commercialization Partners

Diversified Energy Corporation announced the successful demonstration of a combustion system that offers the global biodiesel industry an economically attractive use for crude glycerol. Under an exclusive worldwide license to Diversified Energy®, the breakthrough system developed by North Carolina State University can safely and efficiently burn the glycerol byproduct generated during the manufacture of biodiesel. The energy created through the combustion of glycerol can then be used for process heating applications or electricity generation. The university has built and tested a 100,000 BTU/hour prototype burner, U.S. and international patents have been filed, and Diversified Energy is now seeking commercialization partners for market introduction.

The manufacture of biodiesel through transesterification results in approximately one pound of crude glycerol byproduct for every ten pounds of biodiesel produced. As the biodiesel industry has exploded, so has the supply of crude glycerol and it is expected to reach in excess of 350,000 tons/year in the U.S. and 600,000 tons/year in Europe. Crude glycerol contains artifacts from the biodiesel process like catalysts, alcohol, and soap and is therefore costly to refine into higher-grade, pure glycerol. As a consequence, crude glycerol market prices have collapsed and the biodiesel industry is struggling with viable options for the glut of glycerol on hand.

The combustion of crude glycerol offers an elegant solution, where 16 MJ of heat per kilogram of glycerol burned could be provided back to the biodiesel process, to another co-located system, or could be converted into other energy forms like electricity. However, the combustion of glycerol has heretofore been challenging because of technical, safety, and cost obstacles. By nature, glycerol has a high viscosity, high auto-ignition temperature and low heating value. This means that it is difficult to flow the product into a burner, hard to ignite, and even more challenging to maintain a flame. In addition, if the glycerol is not completely combusted it is possible to generate toxic gases. For this reason the market has struggled to commercialize cost-effective, widely deployable combustion systems for crude glycerol.

The patent-pending process from NC State University is based on a novel spray atomization swirl burner architecture that overcomes all technical and safety issues. This includes a unique approach to pre-heat the combustion chamber, maintain heat retention, maximize radical retention, and carefully interact air and fuel flows. The system is extendable to any liquid fuel having an ambient viscosity of greater than 20 centistokes. A 100,000 BTU/hr prototype has been manufactured and tested with crude glycerol generated from the manufacture of biodiesel, whose initial feedstock started as chicken fat and soybean oil. Rigorous emissions characterization has been completed to showcase the system’s safety. Diversified Energy is now seeking partners to leverage the prototype into a commercial design, manufacture the system, and conduct market sales and service. Preliminary licensing discussions are currently underway with companies in Brazil, Columbia, the U.S., Canada, and Northern Europe.