Response surface optimization and process design for glycidol synthesis using potassium modified rice husk silica

Abstract

Glycerol, an inexpensive by-product from biodiesel production can be converted into many useful products notably glycidol, which has a wide range of uses. In this study, glycidol synthesis has been done using a biowaste mediated catalyst in a single step process. Silica and potassium incorporated silica were synthesized from biowaste rice husk. These catalysts were characterized by different spectroscopic techniques. Basic sites in the catalysts were estimated using temperature-programmed desorption study. Four operational parameters were optimized using Box Behnken Design (BBD) of response surface methodology (RSM). Potassium incorporated rice husk was found to be one of the best catalysts for glycidol production with 60.8% glycerol conversion and 62.9% selectivity within one hour of reaction time.