Refined glycerol USP 99.7 wt% to storage

Activity Refined glycerol (USP) from biodiesel crude glycerol (10 000 t/a, concept), GLO: the inventory of 1 kilogram of its reference product, attributional, cut-off.

Calculation maturity: not assessed Design maturity: Concept (research)Not independently reviewedglycerol-1:crude-glycerol-refining-to-usp-glycerol-10-000-t-a-99.7-wt:product:GLYCPreliminaryReport a problem with this dataset
Research outputAn inventory from a research design at the design maturity its process states, not verified plant data: check its calculation maturity and review status before use. Background activities are referenced by name only; no background data is included. All caveats

What it is

Unallocated foreground LCI of Crude glycerol refining to USP glycerol (10 000 t/a, 99.7 wt%), case design, derived from the flowsheet by cheme assess lca.

Reference product
1 kilogram of Refined glycerol USP 99.7 wt% to storage (2.5 bar(a), 40 degC, 99.7 % GLY (mass))
CAS
not available
Code
glycerol-1:crude-glycerol-refining-to-usp-glycerol-10-000-t-a-99.7-wt:product:GLYC
Dataset
crude-glycerol-refining-to-usp-glycerol-10-000-t-a-99.7-wt version 0.1.0 · UUID 054d1b00-1c5c-50d2-ae02-e33dd3721f07
Activity UUID
not available (the library assigns none; use the code)
Database
cheme-as-code-atlas-preview-c3ab348 (version preview-c3ab348)
Process
Refined glycerol (USP) from biodiesel crude glycerol (10 000 t/a, concept)
Geography
GLO · background inputs with a site rule link at the user's site location (default DE)
Time period
2026 · valid until 2031
Technology
Crude glycerol refining: HCl acidulation, fatty-layer decanting, NaOH neutralisation, atmospheric methanol column, vacuum dewatering, vacuum still with live steam and salt centrifuge, activated carbon bleaching; 10 000 t/a glycerol 99.7 wt% · level current
Boundary
gate-to-gate foreground of the plant
Production volume
10,000,000 kg/a (product:GLYC per hour x operation.hours_per_year (8000 h/a))
Classification
ISIC Rev.4 2011 (taxonomy/families.yaml (ISIC Rev.4) of the process's families)
System model
attributional, cut-off (docs/system-model.md, methodology 1.1.0)
Allocation
shares, 87.3 % of the dataset to this product (rule deviation, from study)
D-013: the library hierarchy prefers subdivision or system expansion, then economic (price ratio) allocation. Subdivision is not possible (one acidulation serves all three outputs), substitution needs background datasets that are not linked at this stage and no sourced prices for refined glycerol and the fatty layer were collected in this run. Mass shares with the methanol as a return are a declared preliminary placeholder until prices are sourced and the crude-glycerol background is chosen.
Rights
CC-BY-4.0: the ChemE-as-Code process library's own concept design (LICENSE-DATA)

Exchanges per 1 kilogram of Refined glycerol USP 99.7 wt% to storage

As exported: allocated and scaled to the reference product. Provenance: 15 assumed. Pedigree scores (1 best, 5 worst): reliability, completeness, temporal correlation, geographical correlation, further technological correlation.

Preliminary6 exchanges are not yet linked to a background dataset. They count no burden, so the inventory is incomplete: do not read a result from it as complete.
InputAmountUnitProvenancePedigreeLinked to
Crude glycerol from the biodiesel plant
feed:CRUDE
stream S1 (composition Thompson & He 2006, D-004)
From stream S1
1.538kilogramassumed4 4 1 3 3unlinked
unlinked, no technosphere mapping: no mapping (no chemical slug or factor id); add it to lci/mappings.yaml technosphere or to the process's lca/mappings.yaml exchanges
Hydrochloric acid 32 wt%
feed:HCLA
stream S2 (D-005)
From stream S2
0.1016kilogramassumed4 4 1 3 3Atlas: hydrochloric acid, 32 wt-% in water, per kg of solution (Atlas unit proxy) (hydrochloric acid, 32 wt-%, GLO)
Caustic soda 50 wt%
feed:NAOHS
stream S6 (D-005)
From stream S6
0.006485kilogramassumed4 4 1 3 3Atlas (pinned): Chlor-alkali by membrane-cell electrolysis (100 kt/a Cl2, 50 wt-% caustic soda, hydrogen) (Sodium hydroxide, Caustic soda 50 wt-% to storage, GLO)
compatible: grade the input names no chemical only; sodium-hydroxide (Sodium hydroxide, Caustic soda 50 wt-% to storage) is taken; unit kilogram; system model cutoff (one database); allocation shares (deviation); boundary plant gate (pinned): no distribution or losses; the consumer's dataset counts its delivery
Activated carbon (fresh)
feed:ACF
stream S18 (D-011)
From stream S18
0.001754kilogramassumed4 4 1 3 3unlinked
unlinked, no technosphere mapping: no mapping (no chemical slug or factor id); add it to lci/mappings.yaml technosphere or to the process's lca/mappings.yaml exchanges
LP steam 450 kPa(a), live stripping steam to the still
feed:LSTM
stream S14: live stripping steam of the still (D-009)
From stream S14
0.09184kilogramassumed4 4 1 3 3Atlas: steam, saturated, 11 bar(a), per kg, as heat from steam (Atlas unit proxy) (steam, saturated, 11 bar(a), GLO)
MP steam 1000 kPa(a), motive steam of the still vacuum ejectors
feed:MSTM
stream S22: motive steam of the still booster ejectors J-403 (D-009)
From stream S22
0.1555kilogramassumed4 4 1 3 3Atlas: steam, saturated, 11 bar(a), per kg, as heat from steam (Atlas unit proxy) (steam, saturated, 11 bar(a), GLO)
MP steam 1000 kPa(a) to the methanol column reboiler (condensate returned)
feed:MPS
Q1 (C-201 reboiler), D-007, D-012
steam, MP, 179.85 degC, 10 bar(a)
From stream Q1
0.3757kilowatt hourassumed4 4 1 3 3Atlas: heat from steam, per kWh (Atlas unit proxy) (heat from steam, by energy, GLO)
LP steam 450 kPa(a) to the dewatering evaporator (condensate returned)
feed:LPS
Q3 (E-301 evaporator), D-012
steam, LP, 147.65 degC, 4.5 bar(a)
From stream Q3
0.02501kilowatt hourassumed4 4 1 3 3Atlas: heat from steam, per kWh (Atlas unit proxy) (heat from steam, by energy, GLO)
HP steam 3000 kPa(a) to the still reboiler (condensate returned)
feed:HPS
Q5 (E-401 still reboiler), D-012
steam, HP, 233.85 degC, 30 bar(a)
From stream Q5
0.2604kilowatt hourassumed4 4 1 3 3Atlas: heat from steam, per kWh (Atlas unit proxy) (heat from steam, by energy, GLO)
Electric power
feed:POWER
W1 to W5, 50 kWh/t product ASSUMED (D-012)
electricity
From streams W1, W2, W3, W4, W5
0.0436kilowatt hourassumed4 4 1 3 3market for electricity, medium voltage (electricity, medium voltage, DE, site location) in your background (default ecoinvent-3.11-cutoff)
Salt cake to disposal
product:SALT
stream S12 (D-010)
From stream S12
0.05863kilogramassumed4 4 1 3 3unlinked
unlinked, no technosphere mapping: no mapping (no chemical slug or factor id); add it to lci/mappings.yaml technosphere or to the process's lca/mappings.yaml exchanges
Glycerol foots (still residue liquor) to digestion or incineration
product:FOOTS
stream S13 (D-010)
From stream S13
0.0385kilogramassumed4 4 1 3 3unlinked
unlinked, no technosphere mapping: no mapping (no chemical slug or factor id); add it to lci/mappings.yaml technosphere or to the process's lca/mappings.yaml exchanges
Spent activated carbon
product:SPAC
stream S19 (D-011)
From stream S19
0.0035kilogramassumed4 4 1 3 3unlinked
unlinked, no technosphere mapping: no mapping (no chemical slug or factor id); add it to lci/mappings.yaml technosphere or to the process's lca/mappings.yaml exchanges
Process wastewater to treatment
product:WW
streams S10 (evaporator condensate) and S15 (vacuum intercondenser condensate with the ejector motive steam), D-008, D-009
From streams S10, S15
0.324kilogramassumed4 4 1 3 3unlinked
unlinked, no technosphere mapping: no mapping (no chemical slug or factor id); add it to lci/mappings.yaml technosphere or to the process's lca/mappings.yaml exchanges
Cooling water return
product:CW
Q2, Q4, Q6, Q7, Q8 (D-012)
cold, 25 degC
From streams Q2, Q4, Q6, Q7, Q8
0.8042kilowatt hourassumed4 4 1 3 3Atlas (plant): cooling water service, per kWh heat rejected (Atlas screening proxy) (heat rejected to cooling water, GLO)
compatible: grade the input names cooling-water only; cooling-water (Heat rejected to cooling water, 25/35 degC) is taken; unit kilowatt hour; carrier cold, 25 degC from cold, 25 degC; system model cutoff (one database); allocation mass (single-output); boundary plant gate of a site utility: no utility market yet (docs/markets.md)

Elementary flows

No elementary flows are exported for this activity (pass-through emissions and free inputs are left out, see the caveats).

The streams are the plant's own flows: an amount here is allocated and per 1 kilogram of Refined glycerol USP 99.7 wt% to storage, so it differs from the stream's flow, and it can sum several streams.

Where these numbers come from: each exchange names its source above; the dataset is processes/glycerol-1/lca/dataset.yaml in library version c3ab348.

Used by

No other activity of this database links to it.

How good it is

Review
Not reviewed: no LCI review record yet
Data quality
DQR 2.33 · PEF-style DQR 2.75
TeR 3 · GeR 3 · TiR 1 · P 4 · C 4 · weakest TeR · primary data 0 %
Mass and carbon closure
Assessed (lca/manifest.json balance, tolerance 5 %: design maturity concept (sourced screening))
  • lci-carbon-origin: closed
  • lci-element-balance: closed
  • lci-mass-balance: closed
Change report
Not available: this build has no change report against an earlier release.

KPI benchmark positions

Not available: no benchmarked KPI for this dataset.

How to use it

Downloads

A file with this activity alone is not available: each file above is the whole database, and the line under it says how to find this activity there.

import bw2data as bd
from cheme_as_code_lci import install

bd.projects.set_current("my-project")   # holds your licensed background + biosphere3
install("cheme-as-code-atlas-preview-c3ab348.xlsx", background="ecoinvent-3.11-cutoff", location="DE")
activity = bd.get_activity(("cheme-as-code-atlas-preview-c3ab348", "glycerol-1:crude-glycerol-refining-to-usp-glycerol-10-000-t-a-99.7-wt:product:GLYC"))

While any exchange of the database has no mapping, install() writes nothing and only lists the unlinked exchanges. So the last line finds no activity until the gaps are mapped: the download section gives the ways to use the database now.

How to cite

Refined glycerol USP 99.7 wt% to storage, from Refined glycerol (USP) from biodiesel crude glycerol (10 000 t/a, concept) (dataset crude-glycerol-refining-to-usp-glycerol-10-000-t-a-99.7-wt 0.1.0), ChemE-as-Code Process Atlas LCI database preview-c3ab348, activity glycerol-1:crude-glycerol-refining-to-usp-glycerol-10-000-t-a-99.7-wt:product:GLYC. Cite the Process Atlas paper (in preparation, 2026), by Artur M. Schweidtmann and Jana M. Weber, and the ChemE-as-Code Process Atlas LCI database version preview-c3ab348.

DOI: none yet (the Process Atlas paper is in preparation)

For the data, cite the Process Atlas paper; for the platform that builds and checks it, the ChemE-as-Code paper.

Schweidtmann, A. M. & Weber, J. M. (2026, in preparation). Process Atlas: an open, git-native, reproducible library and life cycle inventory of chemical processes (working title).

BibTeX
@unpublished{schweidtmann_process_atlas,
  author = {Schweidtmann, Artur M. and Weber, Jana M.},
  title = {{Process Atlas: an open, git-native, reproducible library and life cycle inventory of chemical processes (working title)}},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://atlas.cheme-as-code.org},
  note = {in preparation}
}

Schweidtmann, A. M. (2026, in preparation). ChemE-as-Code: An Open-Source Platform for AI-Accelerated Chemical Process Engineering (working title).

BibTeX
@unpublished{schweidtmann_cheme_as_code,
  author = {Schweidtmann, Artur M.},
  title = {{ChemE-as-Code: An Open-Source Platform for AI-Accelerated Chemical Process Engineering (working title)}},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://cheme-as-code.org},
  note = {in preparation}
}