A new glycerin refinery will soon be operational in Claypool, Indiana. Louis Dreyfus Commodities’ huge refinery, co-located with its soybean crush facility and its 90 MMgy biodiesel production plant—one of the largest in the U.S.—will be up and running in just a couple of weeks, Jeremy Mullins, the commercial manager for Louis Dreyfus Commodities, told me last week.

Louis Dreyfus Commodities says the new 80-million-pound-per-year glycerin refinery will be the second-largest in the U.S. producing USP-grade Kosher refined glycerin.

The company has been marketing its crude glycerin from the biodiesel process at Claypool since it began operations in 2007. The new refinery is expected to allow Louis Dreyfus Commodities to process 100 percent of its crude glycerin production into USP-grade Kosher refined glycerin.

“The refinery in Claypool is being built with the best technology available,” said Tommy Malone, Louis Dreyfus Commodities’ head of North America. “We expect our plant to produce the highest-quality refined glycerin, meeting the needs of our growing customer network.”

Situated about 100 miles southeast of Chicago, the Claypool complex is positioned on the Norfolk Southern Rail Road and can load refined glycerin into trucks and tanker railcars. The company is leasing specialized, lined tank cars to ship refined glycerin to customers. It also built additional on-site storage capacity to support the new glycerin refinery operations.

“The refinery further strengthens our investment in the Claypool plant, and provides high-quality employment opportunities in agricultural processing for Kosciusko County,” Malone added. “Refined glycerin is present in a variety of industries worldwide, including personal care, pharmaceuticals, food manufacturing, healthcare, automotive, chemical and textiles. New applications for refined glycerin continue to be discovered, giving rise to a strong and growing glycerin market in the U.S., and we are prepared to meet these increasing demands.”

Congratulations Louis Dreyfus Commodities on the investment in and construction of this superb facility. We here at Biodiesel Magazine look forward to following your success.