Abstract
In recent years, much attention has been focused on the hydrogenolysis of biodiesel derived glycerol to other high value products for the sustainable development and efficient valorization strategies. In the present work, alumina-supported Ir catalyst was prepared by the incipient wetness impregnation method and tested in the glycerol hydrogenolysis reaction. The synthesized catalyst was characterized by neutron activation analysis, N2 physisorption, and H2 chemisorption techniques. The experiments standard conditions were 150 mL feed volume, 0.3 g catalyst, 1500 rpm stirring speed, and 5 wt% glycerol aqueous solution for 4 h. The effects of catalyst amount, temperature, hydrogen pressure, stirring speed, and solution pH on glycerol conversion and selectivity of the principal products obtained were also investigated. The glycerol conversion and the 1,2-propanediol selectivity varied from 4.9% to 22% and from 23.8% to 70.3%, respectively. It was found that the selectivity of 1,2-propanediol increased significantly with the increased alkalinity of the reaction medium.
Highlights
The fluctuating increasing oil prices and the increased world-wide environmental concerns towards minimizing CO2 emissions tend to highlight the necessity of renewable resources
Iridium-supported catalyst on γ-Al2O3 was prepared to be tested in the glycerol hydrogenolysis experiments
4 Conclusions Iridium-supported catalyst on γ-Al2O3 were prepared for hydrogenolysis of crude glycerol derived from biodiesel industry for the sake of producing value-added chemicals from this biowaste
Summary
The fluctuating increasing oil prices and the increased world-wide environmental concerns towards minimizing CO2 emissions tend to highlight the necessity of renewable resources. Increases in the production of glycerol from biodiesel refining accompanied with the tight markets of glycerol supply and demand created a glut in the glycerol market. This resulted in a significant fall in the glycerol price and limited options for glycerol byproduct management are available to biodiesel refiners [1]. Finding solutions for the effective utilization of glycerol waste is crucial to achieve both economic and environmental benefits This will turn the biofuel producers to view the byproduct as a valuable resource for their own production processes instead of viewing glycerin as a waste [2, 3]
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