Glycerol Determination in Biodiesel Fuels using Glycerol Oxidase

Whenever biodiesel is made, ten percent of the reaction is the by-product glycerol (also called glycerin). Glycerol has many uses, but it is not a fuel: burning glycerol in any engine will cause irreversible damage. So glycerol must be removed from biodiesel before it can be sold or used. ASTM Intermational, the trade association that sets standards for purity of many industrial products, has set the limit of glycerol in biodiesel at 0.02 percent. There is no wuick and easy way to measure the glycerol content of biodiesel. NECi has identified an enzyme that can do the job. In order to make the test practical, commercial quantities of enzyme of consistently reliable quality is needed. The goal of this project is to develop protein expression processes for making pure and stable enzyme. At the same time, we will develop reagents and simple test kits. Reagents are targeted to biodiesel process development groups and producers. Simple kits for use on site are aimed at small scale producers such as on-farm sites, and fuel testers. The goals will help producers design better fuel production processes, help regulatory personnel monitor fuel QC, and prevent engine damage from partially purified biodiesel. The overall goal is to help make biodiesel a more practical, commercially competitive fuel choice.