2016
Polymers Derived from Biodiesel Waste for Road Dust Control
Contributor/Checkoff:
Category:
Sustainable Production
Keywords:
AgricultureBiodiversityCarbonField management Land Use SustainabilityU.S. Soy reputation
Parent Project:
This is the first year of this project.
Lead Principal Investigator:
Jim Bahr, North Dakota State University
Co-Principal Investigators:
Bret Chisholm, North Dakota State University
Project Code:
Contributing Organization (Checkoff):
Institution Funded:
Brief Project Summary:

Road dust is a common problem in rural areas throughout the United States as well as in mining areas and can lead to health issues to those living and working in these dusty environments. At the same time the rapidly growing bio-diesel industry is faced with a glut of crude glycerin that is expensive to purify and expensive to dispose of. This research will focus on the conversion of the crude glycerin (from biodiesel waste) into a non-toxic, non-corrosive dust suppressant material by reacting it with lesser quantities of soybean oil. This material would then be dispersed in water for spray application onto gravel roads for dust control.

Unique Keywords:
#sustainability
Information And Results
Project Deliverables

The primary objective of the proposed project is to investigate the utility of a chemical process that will modify the glycerin with soybean oil to produce a monoglycerides that can be applied to gravel roads with or without a cross linking agent to produce a web-like polymeric structure that binds the dust suppressant material to the gravel matrix so that it is not water soluble and consequently washed away into the ground water. Furthermore, converting the glycerin to monoglycerides leaves unreacted hydroxyl groups free to absorb moisture from the air making it hygroscopic and wet. This is the mode of action of current road dust suppression salts such as magnesium chloride. Additionally, the soy based polymeric monoglyceride will not be corrosive like the salt based dust suppressants currently in use today. Finally, the ester bonds present in the fatty acid structure will make it biodegradable so that it does not accumulate in the environment.

Final Project Results

Updated December 2, 2016:
Final Progress Report is downloaded in the File (optional) below

View uploaded report Word file

Project Title: Polymers Derived from Biodiesel Waste for Road Dust Control
Principal Investigator: James A. Bahr, North Dakota State University

Road dust is a common problem in the rural United States as well as industrial sites such as mining areas and can lead to health issues to those living and working in these dusty environments. At the same time, the growing biodiesel industry is faced with an excess of crude glycerin that is expensive to purify and/or dispose of. This research explored the possibility of combining soy biodiesel with inexpensive crude glycerin (from biodiesel waste) in order to synthesize a non-toxic, biodegradable and non-corrosive dust suppressant material that is dispersible in water for application onto gravel roads as a “drop-in” replacement for chloride based dust control agents.

Funding from the ND Soybean Council allowed us to successfully develop a soy based dust control agent that was shown to perform as well as magnesium chloride in laboratory testing. This effort required the optimization of the chemical synthesis metrics, the development of lab scale testing methods and the determination of effective application rates that are required for its use on roadways. Our results indicate that this soy-based material can be dispersed in water and applied to gravel surfaces using standard application equipment at rates comparable to chloride brines. It is also noncorrosive, biodegradable and performs well in dry conditions. Furthermore, this material has been shown to be water stable and resists being washed away in the rain. Finally, lab results indicate that it forms cross-linked networks that bind the dust particles together to minimize fugitive road dust and reduce the loss of fine particles from the gravel. Fine particle retention is important to the longevity of a road bed and will reduce the road maintenance costs associated with periodic re-gravelling and grading operations.

Magnesium and calcium chloride brines are the most commonly used dust suppressant materials due to the fact that they are relatively inexpensive and easy to apply. The main problems with these salts however is that they are highly corrosive to vehicles and road infrastructure. Also, they tend to perform poorly in very dry conditions when they are needed most and can be washed away from the road surface due to rainfall. Our goal was to overcome these problems while adding additional benefits.

The market in the US for dust control is quite large with over 1.3 million miles of unpaved roads and over $400 million spent annually on the application of dust treatments. The development of a dust control product derived from soy biodiesel waste should create a new market for the biodiesel industry. As a result, revenue generated from this new market should decrease the overall cost of biodiesel production through the utilization of its glycerin waste stream. Since biodiesel and/or soybean oil are also used to make this soy based road dust suppressant, a new market for soy biodiesel and/or soybean oil will be created through the manufacture and use of this product.

The United Soybean Research Retention policy will display final reports with the project once completed but working files will be purged after three years. And financial information after seven years. All pertinent information is in the final report or if you want more information, please contact the project lead at your state soybean organization or principal investigator listed on the project.