British chemists have developed a way of purifying biodiesel made from vegetable oils, which is cheap, simple and low in toxicity.
Using ionic liquids made in part by vitamin B4 (choline chloride), a group of chemists from the University of Leicester, UK, is able to remove glycerol, the main by-product of vegetable oil-based biodiesel, which if left in biodiesel would damage engines, according to a press release on Thursday by the university.
The ionic liquid developed by Andrew Abbott who led the group uses a complex of choline chloride with glycerol to extract more glycerol out of the biodiesel.
This technique simply washes glycerol out of the fuel, effectively providing a sustainable methodology for the purification of biodiesel without the production of significant waste.
Abbott hopes that further research will optimize the ionic liquid recycling and recovery of the glycerol, and hopes to collaborate with a biodiesel producer to test this technology further.
Source: Xinhua
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