Valorization of glycerol, by-product of biodiesel: Production of added-value chemical compounds by catalytic way

IGNACIO EBERHARDT; ESTEBAN A. SÁNCHEZ; SEBASTIÁN ANTUÑA; MIGUEL A. D'ANGELO; RAÚL A. COMELLI

Río de Janeiro

Congreso; 15º Congresso Brasileiro de Catálise (CBCAT) y 5º Congresso de Catálise do Mercosul (MERCOCAT); 2009

Sociedade Brasileira de Catálise (SBCat)

The valorization of glycerol, by-product of the biodiesel production, interests because of its growing generation related to the biofuel demand and its origin in renewable raw materials, which allows obtain a sustainable environmental development. The reaction of glycerol hydrogenolysis produces compounds of commercial interest and added value, such as propylenglycol and 1,3-propanediol. This hydrogenolysis reaction was studied over commercial catalysts such as Ni Raney and copper-chromite, at 90-200ºC, 2.0-8.5 atm, operating either discontinuous or semi-continuous form. When using Ni Raney, the hydrogen consumption was not significant. The copper-chromite catalyst is active to produce propylenglycol. By increasing the reaction temperature, the glycerol conversion increases while the propylenglycol selectivity decreases. For the semi-continuous operation and changing from 180 to 200ºC, conversion increases 2.9 and 4.7 times at 4 and 8 hours of operation, respectively. By favoring the mixed action, both conversion and selectivity increase. Both oxidation and reforming of glycerol are also being studied, interesting the production of dihydroxyacetone and hydrogen, respectively.