I'm just curious how everyone is disposing of their glycerin by product.

Here in Utah we take ours to a waste water treatment plant that collects methane from their Anaerobic Digester.

They add our glycerin to the raw sewage and have found that increases the anaerobic activity which in turn increases the methane production.

We do not remove the methanol from it; they want it still in there.

Another customer of mine collects his glycerin and produces soap out of it. You can read about him here:

http://www.blackcrownsoap.com/timkelly.html

So, now it's your turn. How do you dispose of your glycerin?

In the deep south, weeds grow FAST...I've heard it works great along fence lines.

De-meth it, then let the cows at it! They love it, & we've been in the worst drought in 50 years these past 2 years. Hay bales (4x5, big round bales) have been going for $90 when they're normally $35. Glycerin in moderation is an excellent feed suppliment. Anyone in central Texas that wants to 'dispose' of their glycerin in my direction are welcome to contact me to 'properly' dispose of it.

-tony

Dust control, brush fire starter, fertilizer mixing to name few. Currently racking up 100+ gallons of it per week if anyone needs some extra.

-Ken

I burn it half a liter at a time in a heavy 1/4" plate steel box about 4.5" x 4.5" x 10" in my airtight, EPA rated woodstove. Along with wood of course. Without the wood it doesn't work. Hot-n-clean. The glycerin has be de-methed.

Finest regards,

troy

I got a private email about this, & thought everyone might benefit from the answer. Basically the question was how do I feed it out, do I mix with hay, or what?

First, note that I demeth the glycerin. We lost one cow way back before we started demeth'ing it, so protect your animals & don't even think about this if you're not willing to properly demeth the glycerin. Note, we were just pouring it on the ground back then, so it could be that one sucked down a nail or something, but I wouldn't even think about taking a chance like that again.

I don't mix things. We have round bales of hay set out, & I use buckets for the glycerin. I started with just putting the glycerin in 5 gallon buckets, but the cow would literally fight for access to the bucket. I now just put out a few 25 gallon tubs (they are the plastic tubs that protein feeds for cattle come in, I use them because a few cows can eat out of one & they are 'free').

The cows won't eat all of it at once. It took them a little while when I first put it out to develop a 'taste' for it. Now, they come over & lick on it for a little while (few minutes), & wander off. They are basically just regulating their feeding themselves. As there is lye in the glycerin, too much might upset their stomachs, but cows are smart enough to know when is 'enough'. I can't say what sheep would do, you would need to monitor them.

But like I said, they've developed a taste for it. No need to 'sweeten' the glycerin, I just put it out with maybe 20 gallons in each tub, & over a few days they suck it down.

Note that they will spill some & it will kill the grass around it. So you probably don't want to do this around trees. If others are doing this, I'd like to hear how they do it & what else works. I'm satisfied with my method for now.

-tony

Gday.Thank you Texas Tony for answering my email via the forum.I have lambs 6 months old that i will try some demethed glycerine in troughs that are cut down tractor tires.Also they will have a round bale of hay and a self feeder with barley near the glycerine.When i make bio i use KOH.I dont know if the residual caustic will be a problem but i will inform the forum when i have any results. regards westwinds

Here is a collection of links I have on feeding the glycerol to ruminants. Figured this would be a good place to interject it.

Biodiesel Glycerol for ruminants University of Ohio
http://hdl.handle.net/1811/25219

Uni of Missouri
http://www.sciencedaily.com/re.../05/070525090245.htm

NC State Uni
http://www.thepigsite.com
water/1940/byproducts-from-energy-production-for-swine

Australian Study
http://www.regional.org.au/au/gcirc/1/241.htm#P0_0

HTH

Thanks Tony and Legal for this valuable info. I have several friends with dairy farms in the area who I will share this with.

Gday;I have 40 litres of glycerine in a 200 litre plastic that i cut lenthway and folded it outwards for lambs to acces when they eat barley from a self feeder.The glycerine has been out for over a week and the lambs are not interested in it.I am not disappointed as they have a round bale of pasture hay and have not touched it either.I believe the glycerine will be eaten by adult sheep during the next drought which come around fairly regulary.regards westwinds

After recovering the methanol it goes into a very loarge compost pile that incorporates sawdust from my sawmill and green wastes from my wife's greenhouses.
We have set aside some for soapmaking but have not done anything with it yet.
I am real interested in the glycerine burner offered by AltHeat but they have not replied to my inquireies about the unit.

Thanks for getting the ball rolling Graydon. We do need to dispose of this responsibly.

Short answer: I burn it, too.
___________________________________________

Long answer: I burn it, but differently than Troy. This our first year of seriously using it as a fuel for household heating in a wood stove. The firebox is insulated and air-circulation is managed so that the stove produces a hot, clean fire when used properly.

Basically the glycerine byproduct (w/methanol is OK) is mixed with wood shavings and saw dust. The mixture is made, stored and burned in half-gallon milk/juice cartons. (Smaller cartons are about the same amount of work for less fuel.) Thus, 3 different wastes are combined to make a fine fuel. My batches are typically 50-60 at a time. Takes under
an hour these days.

After the starter fire has warmed the stove, we start popping these G.A.S. (Glycerine And Sawdust)logs in along with the wood.

I do have photos and am mid-way through a short YouTube vid. (don't hold your breath). My suggestion to you if you have these 3 waste products is:

1. Check out JourneyToForever web site:
http://journeytoforever.org/bi...l_glycerin.html#burn for the basic idea and start some testing.
2. Make multiple GAS logs at a time by packing the cut-open milk cartons together in a large (strong!) cardboard box. The stuff is a lot heavier than the bananas or apples or whatever was in there before...
3. There is no right ratio of wood to glycerine, but I err on the side of too much saw-dust/shavings. I don't really want a goopy carton tipping over on the back porch or the living room. In a half-gallon carton, I shoot for about a quart of byproduct. The methanol burns too. They do not explode in the wood stove.
4. The heat from the stove will increase noticably with GAS logs in there. It burns _super_ hot.
5. Emissions are not an issue when burned hot. You should learn about acrolein gas to understand this. The most risky thing is to add another log when one is burning because opening the fire box could release gases into the house.
6. I checked the chimney after 100 GAS logs had been burned and it looked GREAT. No cleaning necessary.
7. The residue from burning glycerine fuses the wood ash together into a clinker, which continues to oxidize with later fires which help break them up. The alternative is to break it up with the fire poker and shovel it out.

So now, I have a final waste product: the ash and clinker! I am trying it as a mulch/fertilizer in high concentrations on select beds of shrubs. So far all plants are as vigorous as their un-ashed neighbors.

- lifesamountain

I make soap and give it to my friends, they all use it and speak very highly of it.

Pennsylvania State College has done extensive research on composting it. I don't have a link but if you look for it, you'll find it...

I give it to my glycern slave and he brings me back methanol. Then he leaves with a equal amount of bd.

We use the KOH reacted glycerin for fertilizer on the farm. Mix it 30/1 with water and put in in our sprayer. Haul it behind the tractor spraying the fields. Our fields are a foot taller than the neighbors

Soap and storing up for the winter. We will burn it in our furnaces.

Mixed with VO sludge and sawdust and burned in the woodstove
Thermal mass for the greenhouse
Hand cleaner
Bathroom cleaner
General cleaner around the VO processor
Anti-fungal

quote:

Originally posted by Wild and Wonderful Productions:
We use the KOH reacted glycerin for fertilizer on the farm. Mix it 30/1 with water and put in in our sprayer. Haul it behind the tractor spraying the fields. Our fields are a foot taller than the neighbors

Might keep an eye on your soil pH. It could slowly become caustic.

I would generally recommend neutralizing with a phosphate or nitrogen containing acid. I have not done it myself, but I know this is being done. I'll bet someone on here knows more about this.

Helping Hand, I'd be slow to recommend neutralizing with nitric acid. Sulfuric acid is found in most commercial kitchens. It's not likely to be an issue, but it IS possible to get highly exothermic.

quote:

I'd be slow to recommend neutralizing with nitric acid.

I don't know how to make nitroglycerin explosive, but I'd be real cautious about mixing nitric acid with glycerin just in case I made some by mistake --- kaboom!!