Evaluation of production processes of glycerol acetals using process intensification by flow chemistry

Abstract

Currently, glycerol has been receiving great attention worldwide for being an important by-product formed during the production of biodiesel in high quantities, being considered, therefore, a very promising raw material for obtaining products with greater added value. Particularly, glycerol acetylation stands out for the glycerol acetals synthesis, which have application as fuel additives. However, in conventional processes, such reaction requires long times and significant acid excess in relation to glycerol. Based on that, the present work aims to apply process intensification, through millichannel reactor, for the acetylation reaction. The results obtained showed that the expressive area/volume ratio of the microreactors added to the high mixing efficiency allowed obtaining, in a few minutes (< 5 min), high glycerol conversions and high selectivities to diacetin. In general, the results showed that the acetals selectivities were directly influenced by the residence time and inversely influenced by the molar ratio of acetic acid/glycerol.