Seek advice on the application of membrane separation technology in the purification of glycerin (glycerol) (removal of impurities)
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The 10th edition of the pharmacopoeia sets relatively strict requirements for pharmaceutical glycerin; gas chromatography is required to determine its content, with the impurity level allowed to be no more than 0.1%. I would like to ask those experts in membrane separation techniques if there are any good separation methods that they could share.
This post was last edited by tommety on 2011-1-6 20:53. It’s not necessary to use the membrane method. Yu Jiabo from Fudan University achieved 99.9% purity of glycerol using continuous chromatography separation technology combined with vacuum distillation; reference can be made to the paper \"Study on the Process for Extracting Glycerol by Fermentation\". As for membrane methods, ordinary membrane separation techniques such as ultrafiltration can be used for preliminary purification to remove lipids, gums, and the like. For further purification, conventional membrane separation techniques are definitely not sufficient. Glycerin has a high boiling point and high surface tension (at 20°C): 63.3 mN/m; membrane distillation can be considered, but achieving a purity of 99.9% is very difficult.
““The impurity content must not exceed 0.1%” – I didn’t understand that
Reply to 2# tommety: Can this be used for large-scale production purposes for amplification?
Currently, glycerin purification is mainly carried out using methods such as vacuum distillation and adsorption, with only slight differences in the processes employed. I haven’t studied Yu Jiabo’s technology either, and I don’t know if it’s possible to scale up its production. And there is still a long way to go before membrane-based methods can be used for large-scale production, haha
There is a company that can provide equipment for continuous chromatography separation technology! ! Xiamen Star Membrane Technology Co., Ltd. http://www.starmem.com.cn
Guys, are there any other good suggestions? For example, regarding some extraction methods. We initially suspect that this impurity is 1,3-propanediol, which is a small amount of fermentation product resulting from microbial contamination of crude glycerin. We’re not sure if this assumption is correct; please also offer some advice on how to separate 1,3-propanediol from glycerin.