Research that has turned a glut of a biodiesel by-product into high value products has earned its innovator an award. This National Biodiesel Board news release says the French researcher’s work was honored at the 2015 Annual Meeting of the American Oil Chemists’ Society (AOCS).
Dr. Franck Dumeignil, Full Professor at Lille University and Deputy Director of the School’s Unit of Catalysis and Solid State Chemistry, is the winner of the 2015 Glycerine Innovation Award, sponsored by the American Cleaning Institute (ACI) and the National Biodiesel Board (NBB).
The ACI/NBB Glycerine Innovation Award recognizes outstanding achievement for research into new applications for glycerine, with particular emphasis on commercial viability.
Prof. Dumeignil undertook his research in the context of the rapid growth of the biodiesel industry worldwide creating an urgent need to quickly and effectively convert crude glycerine into value-added chemical products. The research has enhanced the value of glycerine by successfully tackling many bottlenecking problems, with his research showing the potential to mass produce high value products from glycerine.
“The use of crude glycerine, much less costly than purified glycerol, is still a problem as its impurities are detrimental to the whole process efficiency,” said Prof. Dumeignil.
The award includes a plaque and a $5,000 honorarium.