Abstract
Crude glycerol is the main by-product of many renewable diesel production platforms. However, the process of refining glycerol from this crude by-product stream is very expensive, and thus does not currently compete with alternative processes. The acetylation of glycerol provides an intriguing strategy to recover value-added products that are employable as fuel additives. In this work, the conversion of glycerol to acetyl derivatives was facilitated by a heterogeneous catalyst generated from the thermal hydrolysis of biosolids obtained from a municipal wastewater treatment facility. The reaction was studied using several conditions including temperature, catalyst loading, acetic acid:glycerol molar ratio, and reaction time. The data demonstrate the potential for using two distinct by-product streams to generate fuel additives that can help improve the process economics of renewable diesel production.
Highlights
Biodiesel and renewable diesel commodities are one of the main driving forces of the green economy [1] as they decrease the emission of CO2 compared to fossil fuels [2]
Biodiesel production is mainly performed through transesterification of triglycerides using methyl or ethyl alcohols, which leads to the massive production of glycerol as a by-product [3]
The glycerol acetylation process produces three different compounds, monoacetins, diacetins and triacetin, whose yields are affected by many process and chemical parameters [31,32]
Summary
Biodiesel and renewable diesel commodities are one of the main driving forces of the green economy [1] as they decrease the emission of CO2 compared to fossil fuels [2]. The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (OECD-FAO) reports that global biodiesel production will increase from 36 to 39 billion litres between 2017 and 2027 [7]. Glycerol acetyl derivatives have received increasing attention due to their wide applications in many fields, from polymer production to fuel additive manufacturing [26,27,28,29,30]. The glycerol acetylation process produces three different compounds, monoacetins, diacetins and triacetin, whose yields are affected by many process and chemical parameters [31,32]. Mixtures of diacetins and triacetin are valuable diesel or gasoline additives leading to enhanced cold resistance, improved viscosity and anti-knocking properties [33,34]. Monoacetins could be converted to solketal derivatives that show the same
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