Production of Biofuels from Glycerol from the Biodiesel Production Process—A Brief Review

Abstract

Biodiesel is seen as a successor to diesel of petrochemical origin, as it can be used in cycle and stationary engines and be obtained from renewable raw materials. Currently, the biodiesel production process on an industrial scale is mostly carried out through the transesterification reaction, also forming glycerol as a product. Pure glycerol is used in the pharmaceutical, cosmetic, cleaning, food, and other industries. Even presenting numerous applications, studies indicate that there is a saturation of glycerol in the market, which is directly related to the production of biodiesel. This increase causes a commercial devaluation of pure glycerol, making separation and purification processes unfeasible from an economic point of view. Despite the economic unfeasibility of the aforementioned processes, they continue to be carried out due to environmental issues. Faced with the problem presented, this work provides a bibliographical review of works that aimed to use glycerol as a raw material for the production of biofuels, with these processes being carried out mostly via fermentation.